I am a Freedom Fighter
by FirearmPrime
Summary: Katherine thought her time with SHIELD was done but she should have known better. Nothing is ever easy when you're a member of a secret intelligence organization, or a member of the Avengers, or dating Captain America... her life just isn't easy. This is the sequel to The Life of a Hero! Rated to be safe! Please follow, fave, and review! Steve RogersXOC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Thank you to everyone for the crazy amount of support that _The Life of a Hero_ received! You guys blew me away with all of your reviews, faves, and follows! I hope you guys like this one just as much! Let me know what you guys think! Please review, fave, and follow! Thank you all again!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Katherine!

 **XXX**

It was a year since the mission to get Steve back from his kidnapping. Everything was going great and falling into place. John was almost done with his schooling; he had about a year left before he had to decide if he was staying at the institute as a teacher or going off to live as a normal member of society (or as normal as someone like John could be). Steve was almost a fully fledge member of the X-Men, wearing his X-Suit whenever they did a Danger Room session or training with the kids. Katherine had taken to teaching more classes and helping more with the Danger Room, since she was becoming more aware of what her powers could do. They were all happy.

It was about 6:15 on a Saturday morning, which meant that no one was awake except for Logan, Steve, and Katherine. The woman was sitting at the counter, nursing a cup of coffee when Logan and Steve came in from their morning run. She usually joins them but she'd slept in slightly later so they had gone without her.

"You're not going to catch me Logan." Steve said as they came into the kitchen. The two of them were in constant competition with each other.

"One day Spangles." Logan said, pointing at the other man. Steve chuckled before turning his attention back to the kitchen. He smiled when she saw Katherine sitting there.

"Hey." He said as he leaned over the counter and pressed a kiss to her lips. She smiled as she kissed him back. Logan gagged behind Steve as he slipped past the man and made himself a cup of coffee. Steve pulled away, waiting for Logan to move so that he could make his own. She watched them silently as they made their coffee. "What's wrong?" Logan asked. Katherine shook her head.

"Nothing's wrong." She said, giving Logan a smile she knew he could probably tell was fake. Steve looked at her with a furrowed brow. Logan rolled his eyes before moving towards the living room.

"Work it out." He said before he disappeared. Katherine chuckled before turning to Steve when he sat down beside her.

"What's going on?" He asked and Katherine looked down at her coffee cup before gently swirling the liquid around in the cup.

"Fury called." She said and Steve made a noise while he took a sip of his coffee. She couldn't tell if it was an interested noise or a 'please-don't-tell-me-that' noise.

"What did he want?" Steve asked and Katherine shrugged.

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. He asked for you and when I told him you were out running, he told me to tell you to call him back as soon as you got back." She said, putting her cup down and crossing her arms on countertop.

"You don't think its trouble do you?" Steve asked, setting his own drink on the counter. The woman shook her head.

"No, he would have told me if it was some kind of trouble. He was really calm about the whole situation."

"Huh? Well, I'll call him back in a minute." Steve said, picking up his drink again to take another sip. Katherine smiled softly before picking up her own cup.

 **XXX**

"Who can tell me what were the years that World War Two took place?" Katherine asked, looking around the room of new, young students. A few raised their hands and Sophia called on a young blonde girl.

"1939 to 1945…" She answered and Katherine smiled.

"That's right." She turned to write the dates down on her dry erase board she uses, she found it much easier than a chalk board (and less messy), when she heard someone come into the room. She looked over her shoulder, smiling when she saw Steve there. He smiled back but remained in the back of the room. She glanced down at her watch as she turned back to the class, capping her marker. "We don't have much time left but I would like to introduce you all to a very important man from World War Two." She smiled when Steve looked down at the ground sheepishly. "Everyone, this is Steve Rogers, better known to many of you as Captain America. He's a good friend of mine and a member of the Avengers." The kids looked on in awe as he walked towards the front of the room.

"It's nice to meet you all." He said, smiling and waving at everyone when he was standing beside Katherine.

"Steve will be here when we hit deeper into this chapter tomorrow." The woman said, clapping her hands once. "I just wanted to make sure you all knew that I wasn't going to be alone in teaching this lesson." She said with a smile. Glancing at her watch again, she saw that it was time for lunch. "Alright, you guys can go ahead and head to lunch. Remember to read the chapter about World War Two so Steve and I can answer any questions you may have." She said as they all packed up their bags and made their way out of the room. As they left, the woman turned to erase the board. When the room was empty, Steve stepped up behind the woman, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Katherine chuckled as she turned in his arms to wrap her own around his neck. "Did you ever call Fury back?" She asked and Steve's face fell slightly.

"Yeah…" He said and her brow furrowed, that couldn't be good.

"What did he want?" She asked.

"Well… they're moving the new S.H.I.E.L.D base to D.C. He, uh… he wants me to move out there." Steve said, watching Katherine's reaction closely.

"So… he wants you to move to D.C. so you're closer in case they need you?" She asked, even though she knew exactly what he meant. He sighed and nodded his head. She let her hands slide from his neck until her hands were resting on his chest. "Do you want to move?" She asked.

"No, I don't and I'm not telling you because you have to move either. You have a life here, you and John. I don't want you to have to throw it all away because of Fury. I mean, D.C. is only four hours away." Steve said, taking one hand from her waist to push back a rogue strand of hair that had fallen into her face, back behind her ear.

"So, you want me to stay here while you go and be S.H.I.E.L.D's little guard dog." She asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He shook his head, putting his hands back on her hips, gripping them tightly and pulling her even closer to him.

"NO! Look Kat, you have a life here. You survived the war and learned how to live as a civilian after all this time. I was frozen for over seventy years! I never had a chance to adjust to civilian life. All I know is how to be Captain America." Steve tried to explain to her.

"But you've been just fine all this time!" She said, putting her hands on his cheeks.

"I know but…"

"It doesn't always feel right. I know… I went through the same thing when I first moved her with Charles." She said as he began to run her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. Steve closed his eyes, leaning his head down slightly to enjoy the feeling of her playing with his hair. "Look Steve, I love you and I just want you to find your place so that you feel at home, even if that isn't here with us." Steve opened his eyes and raised his head before leaning forward to press a passionate kiss to Katherine's lips.

"You and John are my home." Katherine bit her bottom lip before she leaned into the man more, nuzzling her head under his chin.

"Are you sure you don't want me and John to move down there?" She asked and Steve nodded.

"Everyone you know is here, same with John. You know that if S.H.I.E.L.D needs you, they'll call you. I would rather have you here and safe." The man said, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to her lips.

"If you say so." She said, leaning up to press one more kiss to his lips.

 **XXX**

"So, you have everything?" Katherine asked as Steve tied the last bag down on the back of his motorcycle. It had been a little over two weeks since they'd talked about Steve moving. He chuckled before turning around and pulling the woman close.

"Yes, I got everything." She smiled before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I just want to make sure. I'd hate for you to get all the way there and then find out you don't have everything." She said, raising a playful eyebrow. She tapped the dog tags around his neck with her index finger, they were hers but with Steve leaving, she wanted to make sure that he had them.

"I wouldn't because I know what I'm leaving here." Steve said and Katherine chuckled.

"Well, aren't you just a smooth talker."

"You know it." Steve said before pressing their lips together. They were the only ones outside since everyone (including John) had said goodbye inside so that the couple could have a moment to themselves. They pulled away just slightly;they could feel each other's breaths fanning over their faces.

"I love you." She said, her lips brushing against Steve's.

"I love you too. I'll make sure you visit as soon as I get the place situated." She nodded her head, trying not to bump their foreheads together too hard.

"Alright. Call me as soon as you get there." She said, running her fingers through Steve's hair once more. He'd cut his hair from the time the Avengers were originally formed. She loved the new cut. He turned his head, pressing a kiss to Katherine's right wrist. She smiled softly. "You should probably go." The man nodded softly, gently pulling away from the woman. He placed a kiss to her forehead before getting onto motorcycle. Giving her one last smile, he kicked started the bike and taking off towards the main road. The woman sighed before turning back and making her way inside when she couldn't see the bike anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I couldn't help but write the next chapter! I'm really excited for everyone to read this story so you get two chapters back to back! Please let me know what you guys think and please fave, follow, and review! It would mean so much to me! Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Katherine!**

 **XXX**

It had been six months since Steve moved to D.C and it had been quite different since the man had left. Katherine was used to sleeping with someone else in the bed and now she was alone. It took her longer to get to sleep and it was harder for her to stay asleep. The morning run was back to just Logan and Katherine. She just missed him.

A few weeks after he'd left, he'd called her to visit the apartment when he had gotten settled. The place was modest and very much Steve. It had all the main essentials with photos of John, Steve, and Katherine around the place. He still ran in the mornings and did most of the things he used to do at the school. The woman would try to visit every weekend and sometimes John came with her as well. This time was different though.

She was packing up and getting ready to head to D.C. to visit Steve when she got a call from Fury. Apparently she, Steve, and Natasha were needed for a mission. A S.H.I.E.L.D ship had been captured by pirates and they wanted to get it back without paying the apparent ransom.

Katherine stood between Steve and Natasha as the mission was explained. She couldn't help but glance down at her new suit. It was almost identical to Natasha's, it was black and tight in ways Katherine didn't understand. How the other woman was able to do half of the things that she did surprised the brunette. The only real differences were that it had no sleeves and an open back. She wore mid-bicep length gloves and thigh high boots with it and on her belt, she had a silver star, matching the one Steve wore on his chest.

"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the _Lemurian Star._ They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago." Agent Rumlow explained.

"Any demands?" Steve asked.

"Billion and a half."

"Why so steep?"

"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.D's." Rumlow answered.

"So it's not off-course. It's trespassing." Steve said to Natasha, who was standing on the other side of Katherine.

"I'm sure they had a good reason." She answered before turning to look at the two soldiers.

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor." Katherine said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at Natasha.

"Relax. It's not that complicated." Natasha said, rolling her eyes and turning her attention away from the other woman and back on the screen.

"How many pirates?" Steve asked, drawing the woman's attention back to the task at hand.

"25. Top mercs led by this guy." Rumlow said, bringing up the leader's picture on the screen. "George Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?" Steve asked again, trying to get all the information from the Agent.

"Oh, mostly techs. One officer. Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley." Rumlow said, bringing up the pictures. Steve looked at Katherine, who looked back before tilting her head to the side.

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve asked. Katherine noticed Natasha look at him before he continued. "Alright, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you're with Howlett, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get them out. Let's move."

"S.T.R.I.K.E, you heard the Cap. Gear up." Rumlow said to his team as they all moved to get ready. Steve nodded to Katherine as he walked by her to get everything he need. She nodded back, grabbing a few extra supplies and stashing them away in her gloves, belt, and the top of her boots. She mostly uses her powers for mission but she's learned with time that her powers aren't always going to get her out of a jam. So she carries a little extra now, it works for her. She glanced at Steve as he continued down towards his stuff (his helmet and comm device, among other things), once both heroes were in "hero-mode" their relationship was hardly noticeable as a romantic one. They made moments of affection and PDA but nothing drastic like they did when they were in civilian clothes. They're relationship was became one of teammates, of a leader and a follower. It was what worked for them when they had missions like this for S.H.I.E.L.D.

 **XXX**

"Did you do anything fun Saturday night?" Natasha asked Steve as they got ready side by side.

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really." Steve said, putting an earpiece in his ear. They were almost above the drop zone when Steve hit he button opening the hanger door.

"Very funny." The redhead said and Steve smiled.

"Katherine and I went out on a nice date. Went and had dinner before going back to my apartment and watching a movie." Steve said as he grabbed his helmet. While the other Avengers knew they were together, he didn't like sharing all aspects of their personal lives with them. Natasha nodded her head before turning back to the man.

"You know, if you asked Katherine to marry you she'd probably say yes." The redhead said. The couple had only been together for about two years but you would have to be blind, deaf, and stupid to not see the deep connection the two had for each other. The couple understood each other in ways that many people didn't see often. Being as they were both from a different time period and having gone through similar experiences, it truly gave them a connection that Natasha (and some of the other Avengers) wanted.

"That's why I don't ask." Steve said as he walked closer to the door, strapping his helmet on.

"Too shy or too scared?" Natasha asked in a teasing tone.

"Too busy!" He said turning back to her.

"Steve!" Katherine called out for him before he could jump. He looked over at her, smiling before walking over. "You almost forgot something." She raised her hand. In her grip was a familiar red, white, and blue circular shield. Steve reached over his head to touch his back, realizing that it wasn't there. He smiled and chuckled softly as he walked over to her, gently taking it from her hand.

"Thanks doll." He said and Katherine smiled. "Where would I be without you?"

"Oh, I don't know… at the bottom of the ocean right now." She raised a playful eyebrow and he chuckled.

"You think you're so cute." He said, putting his right hand on her hip, taking a small step closer.

"I know I'm cute." She said, tilting her head and smiling at him again. He rolled his eyes playfully, sighing before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips before pulling back and continuing his walk to the bay door. He turned and saluted her before he jumped out of the plane.

"Was he wearing a parachute?" Jack Rollins, a member of the S.T.R.I.K.E team, asked. The woman chuckled.

"Nope." She walked over herself, turning and nodding to Rumlow before she took in a deep breath and back flipped out of the plane, manipulating the wind around her to keep her on track. What could she say; she was a bit of a show-off.

 **XXX**

Katherine let the wind carry her until she was pretty close to the water. She used the wind to turn herself so that she landed in the water feet-first before manipulating the water around her so that the impact wasn't as hard as it could have been. By this time, Steve should have already been on the ship. She came to the surface, catching her breath before manipulating the water to make steps going up the side of the ship. They came from the surface of the water, all the way to the second story, where Rumlow and his team were just making an appearance. Steve had taken out most of the guards by himself. Rumlow took out the one guard holding Steve at gunpoint before he landed.

"Thanks." Steve said, turning to the other man.

"Yeah, you seemed pretty helpless without me." Rumlow said with a smile as he undid his parachute. Katherine smiled as she jumped down from her water stairs before sending the water back to the ocean.

"You know, I'm never going to get tired of seeing that." Steve said, putting his hands on his hips as he looked at her. She chuckled and shook her head playfully at him. She then turned her attention to Rumlow.

"Let's move." She said, nodding her head in the direction that they were going before turning and making her way towards the galley. She nodded to Steve and she nodded back before she fully turned to leave. Natasha landed beside Steve as he was putting his shield back onto his back. She quickly undid her parachute as they began walking together.

"What about red and white roses for the wedding?" The redhead asked as if they were having a conversation about the weather and not Steve and Katherine's future. "Seems perfect." She looked over at him.

"Secure the engine room and let me actually ask her to marry me, then you can plan the wedding." Steve answered back.

"I'm multi-tasking." She said before walking over to the railing and jumping over it.

 **XXX**

Rumlow, Katherine, and Rollins walked up behind the pirate when he turned to the door. Her French was a little rusty (who was she kidding, she barely learned it to get through school to actually get her teaching license) but she was pretty sure that the man inside said that they were going to start killing the hostages in two minutes. Rollins and Rumlow lifted their guns from their positions on each side of Katherine at the man's back. Katherine stepped up behind him and when he turned around, she pressed her index finger to his forehead. She shocked him with enough power to know him unconscious. This was a more recent development of her powers, learning to control the amount of elements that she used. This included being able to use anything from the power range of a lightning bolt to the shock you get from when you rub your feet on the carpet and touch someone.

Rumlow jumped forward and grabbed him, holding him up so he didn't fall and tip anyone off that they were there. Katherine moved forward to press her ear to the door, with her heightened senses she was able to hear through the door easily. Rumlow and Rollins tensed. She could hear the other pirate began walking away before he stopped, there was a moment of silence before he began to walk forward again, talking to another pirate in French. She pulled away from the door, taking a few steps back and nodding.

Rumlow moved the man aside, setting him on the ground quietly. The woman glanced back at both of them before moving off to the side, letting the S.T.R.I.K.E team do what they did best. Rumlow got his gun ready while Rollins slipped his backpack off and began digging through it. The man pulled out a small detonation device; he walked over and carefully put it on the door.

S.T.R.I.K.E was in position, Steve was ready, and Natasha had just secured the engine room, everything was set. "On my mark." She heard Steve whisper in her ear. "Three… Two… One." The outside S.T.R.I.K.E agents shot all of the pirates before the door was blown open and the leader in the room was shot by Rumlow. She nodded as she stepped over to look into the room.

"Nice." She said, fist-bumping Rumlow and high-fiving Rollins. Both men chuckled before reciprocating the actions.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: You guys are amazing! I'm so glad everyone likes the story and I really can't wait to write more. I was trying to space it out but with all your positive feedback I might just keep posting, lol! Please review, fave, and follow!**

 **XXX**

Instead of going straight home to New York once the mission was complete (all of the hostages were successfully rescued) she ended up in D.C at the Triskelion, the new S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters. When Katherine had met Steve on the jet, he had explained to her what happened to Natasha. The redhead was supposed to rendezvous with Rumlow and Katherine but she hadn't because she was apparently on a different mission. Fury wanted her to save the S.H.I.E.L.D Intel that was on the ship. That explained why Steve was a little dirtier and cut up than he should have been. Once the jet had landed and everyone was off to do what they needed to do, Katherine and Steve walked to Fury's office, walking right in without knocking.

"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve asked as they both walked closer to the man, who was sitting at his desk.

"I didn't lie." Fury responded. "Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours."

"Which you didn't feel obligated to share with us?" Katherine asked, crossing her arms over her chest from where she stood a few paces back behind Steve.

"I'm not obliged to do anything, Ms. Howlett." Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Those hostages could have died, Nick." Steve said back to the man.

"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen." Fury said, finally turning his chair around so that he was actually looking at the two of them.

"Soldiers trust each other. That's what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns." Steve responded to the man.

"Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye." Fury stood. "Look, I didn't want either of you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything." Katherine watched Steve's body language change. He put one hand on his hip and the other had his finger tapping on the desk.

"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own."

"It's called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets, because nobody knows them all." Fury told the man. Steve placed both of his hands on his hips.

"Except you." Katherine said, uncrossing her arms to motion to the man before looking around his office, this is the first time she'd actually seen it. The man stood to his full height (he was leaning on his desk).

"You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that." The man said before leading them over to an elevator. "Insight Bay." Fury said when he entered the elevator.

' _Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Howlett do not have clearance for Project Insight.'_ The S.H.I.E.L.D computer said when they were all in the elevator.

"Director override. Fury, Nicholas J." Fury said as he leaned back against the side of the elevator.

' _Confirmed.'_ The computer said before the elevator doors closed. The elevator began going down and the three were left in silence.

"You know, they used to play music." Steve said, glancing around the elevator.

"Yeah." Fury answered. "My grandfather operated one of these things for 40 years. Granddad worked in a nice building. Got good tips. He'd walk home every night, a roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say, 'Hi.' People would say, "Hi" back. Time went on, the neighborhood got rougher. He'd say, 'Hi.' They'd say, 'Keep on steppin'.' Granddad got to gripping that lunch bag a little tighter." Fury told the story, looking over at both Avengers.

"Did he ever get mugged?" Steve asked. Fury chuckled.

"Every week some punk would say, 'What's in the bag?'"

"What would he do?"

"He'd show them. Bunch of crumpled ones and a loaded .22 Magnum." Both heroes nodded. Sounds like a member of Fury's family. "Yeah, Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much." Fury said as he moved to stand between Steve and Katherine, looking outside the side of the elevator they were leaning against. The woman closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead before Steve tapped her shoulder to get her attention. She turned to look at him before he motioned her to look out the side of the glass elevator. She turned her head; they were in an underground hanger with three Helicarriers being built. She turned around fully, grabbing the handrails as she took in everything. Fury looked at both heroes before turning back to the Helicarriers. "Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a .22." Fury said, almost with pride. The place was huge. Steve glanced over at Katherine, who happened to glance back at him at the same time. They were out of the elevator a moment later and walking through the place. People were moving from place to place, yelling things at others or moving things, like the jets. It was busy. "This is Project Insight. Three next-generation Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites."

"Launched from the Lemurian Star." Steve said, finally piecing together why they were just rescuing the ship.

"Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down. Continuous sub-orbital flight courtesy of our new repulsor engines." Fury explained.

"Stark?" Katherine asked as they walked over to one of the Helicarriers. Sometimes she forgot how big those things really were.

"He had a few suggestions once he got an up-close look at our old turbines." Fury said to them.

"I remember." Katherine muttered as she continued to look around.

"These new long-range precision guns can eliminate 1,000 hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We're gonna neutralize a lot go threats before they even happen." Fury explains as the heroes just watched him.

"Thought the punishment usually came after the crime." Steve said to Fury.

"Can't afford to wait that long." The man responded.

"Who's 'we'?" Katherine asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we need a quantum surge in threat analysis. For once, we're way ahead of the curve." Fury looked around, the woman could see the pride he held for the Helicarriers. Too bad she didn't feel the same way and she knew that Steve didn't either.

"By holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection." Steve said to him as he looked around. Fury turned to the Captain.

"You know, I read those SSR files." That caught Steve's attention. " _'Greatest Generation'?_ You guys did some nasty stuff." Fury glanced at Katherine and the woman raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we compromised." Steve answered for the both of them. With both of their Army days, they had done some really bad things. She knew that a lot of what she did as a part of Team X was worse than anything she had did in the Army. She tried not to think about those times anymore. Things change, people change. "Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so that people could be free. This isn't freedom, this is fear." Steve said, pointing to the Helicarriers behind them.

"S.H.I.E.L.D takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be." Fury said, stepping closer to the two soldiers. "And it's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."

"Don't hold your breath." Steve grabbed Katherine's hand, gently pulling her away from the other man and towards the elevators.

 **XXX**

They found themselves in the 'locker room' a few minutes later, changing out of their suits into their civilian clothes. Katherine had already gotten into her black skinny jeans and dark gray tank top by the time Steve stepped out from the shower area. She watched him as he walked over to his locker, only a towel around his waist. She turned her attention back to her bag.

"I don't like this." Steve said as he quickly dried off, putting on his boxers and jeans.

"Me neither but let's not think about that, okay?" She said, turning around to him. He was putting on a white T-Shirt. "I have to head back to New York and I don't want our time together to be ruled by Fury and his twisted sense of peace and freedom." She reached beside her bag and grabbed her leather jacket, slipping it over her shoulders.

"You're right." Steve said, slipping his own jacket on before sitting down to put on his boots. The woman sat next to him, so close their shoulders were touching as she slipped her own boots on. Steve looked over and smiled. She smiled back before leaning over and pressing a kiss to his lips. He paused in tying his boots to put a hand on the back of her neck, his thumb settling right on the hinge of her jaw, making the kiss more passionate. Steve pulled away; running the same thumb over her bottom lip as he moved his hand to gently cradle her cheek. She smiled softly as she leaned back, fixing her other boot before standing up, waiting for Steve to finish. Once they were done, Steve led them down to the garage and got on his motorcycle. He handed the shield (which he always brings with him) to Katherine as he got on the bike. Katherine hooked the shield to her own back before getting on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist as he started up the bike and heading towards the city.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I just felt like one chapter wasn't enough so I did a second one! I hope you guys are still liking the story! Please fave, review, and follow! :)**

 **XXX**

It was a random decision to go to the Smithsonian. Katherine walked through Steve's exhibit, pulling the man slightly as they walked around. The man held onto her hand tightly as they walked. The narrating voice explained Steve's story to the people as they walked through, looking at everything. Steve stopped to watch some parents and kids as they stood next to the picture of him before the serum and after. The woman smiled watching the families while leaning in closer to Steve. She knew that Steve wants a family. She didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know. She sees the way he looks at babies. She may want a family someday too. She wasn't quite sure yet, not with S.H.I.E.L.D still so vividly in the picture. The man smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to the top of her head before turning back to the families. A boy was looking at Steve in shock; he knew exactly who he was. Steve smiled, pulling his free hand out of his pocket to raise a finger to his lips. The boy nodded slowly. Katherine chuckled softly before pulling Steve along. They walked through every part of the exhibit, from Steve's original motorcycle to a large photo of Steve and his Howling Commandos. Turning around, it opened up to Bucky Barnes' part of the exhibit.

" _Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country."_ The narration said when the pair of heroes got closer. Steve watched the video play below Bucky's picture and life story. She glanced up at him before leaning into his side again, lifting her free hand to rub it against the forearm of the hand she was holding. She never had the chance to meet Bucky but Steve had said once before how much he wished they could have met. He said that Bucky would have loved her. Steve turned to the woman, offering her a small smile before pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Come on." He said quietly (as quiet as he could in the loud and crowded Smithsonian so that she could hear him) as he lead her towards the small theater area. Peggy Carter was on the screen, talking.

" _That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. Steve, Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned down our allies for months. He saved over 1,000 men. Including the man who would… Who would become my husband as it turned out."_ Steve opened the old compass he carried during World War II and inside the top was a picture of Peggy. Katherine watched him, she knew that Steve had loved and probably still loved Peggy. You never forget your first love. A part of Katherine knew that Steve was with her now and that he was dedicated to her but she couldn't help the small sliver of jealousy she felt. She very subtly, pulled her arm away from Steve, turning back to the video when the man turned to her. _"Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life."_

 **XXX**

They walked out of the museum when they had walked through the rest of the exhibit, the rest of the walk through had been noticeably more quite with less and less touching between the couple. The man almost seemed in a daze as he got on his bike, waiting for Katherine. She stopped and wrapped her arms around herself. Steve blinked a few times before looking at her worriedly. "You alright?" He asked, about to get off the bike. She nodded her head, holding her hand up to stop him from standing.

"Yeah, it's getting late. I think I'm just gonna head back to New York, I got a four hour drive." She said, offering him what she hoped was a convincing smile.

"Well, get on. I'll drive you." Steve said, sitting down and putting up the kickstand before getting ready to kick-start the bike. The woman shook her head.

"No, you have something that you need to do. I'll just take a cab." She said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure?" He asked, trying to figure out when their day had gone wrong, as far as he could remember, everything was fine. The woman could see him trying.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry about me." She kissed his cheek and Steve knew something was wrong. She began walking down the street.

"I love you." Steve said to her. She turned to him, giving him a half-hearted smile.

"You too." She said before hailing a taxi. Steve watched as she gave him one more small smile before getting in the taxi and headed back to Xavier's school. Once in the taxi, she knew she was being stupid. She knew that she should probably stop the driver and get back out and ride with Steve but that stupid pride of hers wouldn't let her. She was jealous of Peggy, a woman who had moved on from Steve 70 years ago. She was mad at Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D for their stupid missions and poor excuse of freedom. She was pissed at herself, for… well, she wasn't sure but she was. She rubbed her eyes before sighing.

"Everything alright, ma'am?" The taxi driver asked, looking in his rearview mirror at her.

"I'm okay. Thank you for asking." She offered the man a small smile before he turned the radio on to Today's Top 40 as they drove four hours to New York.

 **XXX**

Katherine made it home, paying the driver what she owed him, along with a good tip because he'd driven so far and spent the rest of the day just hanging out (sulking but she wouldn't tell you that). "Alright, what's wrong?" Logan said when he came into the living room with a beer. She looked up at him surprised.

"Nothing is wrong…" She said and the man rolled his eyes before sitting down beside his sister and handing her bottle.

"I know you Kathy and I know when something is wrong. So what is it?" He asked again and she sighed, leaning back into the couch cushions.

"It's stupid." She said, taking a sip and swirling the liquid around the amber bottle. Logan raised an eyebrow at her. "You know how when Steve first became Captain America and he was working with the first S.H.I.E.L.D? He met a woman named Peggy Carter and I guess they had feelings for each other. Well… I guess Steve still has feelings for her because he keeps a picture of her in the old compass that he used. I guess…" Her voice faded.

"You got jealous?" He answered and she looked up at him before looking back at her bottle. "Don't worry, I did it too. Remember Stretch and Jean?" She nodded her head. "I know exactly how you feel…"

"How?" She asked her brother. "How would you know? You weren't dating Jean after she'd been frozen for 70 years and then thawed. She didn't love a man before you who was able to grow old and sort of move on with his own family. You don't know what I'm going through Logan." She said, glaring at her little brother before looking down to glare at the bottle. The man raised an eyebrow at her, taking a sip of his drink.

"Well, I do know one thing." He said, setting his bottle on the table before turning to his sister again. "Steve wouldn't have moved here and been with you for two years if there wasn't something there between the two of you." Logan said to her, leaning down slightly so that she would look at him. "He loves you. He may love Peggy but Peggy moved on and Steve knows he has to as well. You're the one he chose. You understand him better than all of the people in this world could hope to and the same for him with you. He has become John's father; who else can you say would have done that." She nodded her head and sighing. Logan was right, on all the accounts (more so being John's father, not many man were cut out for that job).

"I know. I guess everything is just beginning to pile up on me. Steve even told me he loved me before he left and I didn't even say it back." The woman said. Her brow furrowed before her eyes began to water with tears, she realized her mistake. She put the bottle down on the floor before placing her head in her hands. Logan reached over and began rubbing her back when her phone went off. She sniffled and whipped her eyes before reaching over to grab it. Steve's name was scrolling across the screen. She sniffled again as she stood up before answering the call.

"Hello?" She asked as she walked around the room.

' _Hey. Did you make it home alright?'_ Steve asked.

"Yeah, I did. Look, I'm sorry about…" Katherine glanced at the clock. "Yesterday. I just… I got overwhelmed with so many things and…"

' _I know the mission and then Peggy. I finally figured it out. I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable but remember, I do truly love you.'_ He said and she smiled, running her fingers through her hair.

" _I love you too."_

' _Now, I need you to come back to D.C. It's an emergency.'_ Katherine glanced at Logan, who raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of emergency?" She asked.

' _Fury is dead. I can't say much else over the phone.'_

"I'll be there in an hour; Logan is going to prep the Blackbird for me." She said and Logan nodded before walking out of the room, she was sure he would grab Scott on the way.

' _Alright, I'll see you soon. I love you.'_ He said again and she couldn't help but smile.

"I love you too." They hung up and Katherine made her way up to her room to pack a bag. This was a big deal. Something was going down and Steve was calling one of the only people he knew he could trust. By the time she was done packing her duffle bag and changing her clothes, the Blackbird was ready to go. It only took them about an hour before they landed just outside of D.C as to not draw attention. "Thanks guys, I'll call you." She said as she walked off the jet. Scott and Logan both nodded, telling her to be careful.

 **XXX**

 _Where am I going?_ Katherine texted Steve, walking semi-aimlessly around D.C. until she got a text back from him, telling her to go to Triskelion. He had just finished a meeting with Alexander Pierce so he would be meeting her in the lobby when she got there. She glanced at the street names; she was only a few minutes' walk from there. As she walked through the lobby, she nodded at some of the Agents around her. She stepped over to the elevators, waiting for Steve. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, sending the man a text and telling him that she was there. She glanced up when a couple of Agents came to stand on her right. She turned back to her phone, no big deal.

She did notice, after a few minutes when she put her phone away, that the longer she waited the more agents that came to stand around her. They were all men and some were in regular suits while others were in S.T.R.I.K.E uniform. She glanced at them all before turning to one of the first guys that appeared on her right.

"Excuse me, do you have the time?" She asked him.

"Yeah, it's 2:25." He said, looking at his watch.

"Alright, thanks." She said and the man smiled at her before turning back to the elevator. A couple of people came to stand in front of her, now effectively blocking her in. "I think you all should just know what's going to happen if you do this." She said, glancing around at the people around her. A second later, the man to her left swung at her. She ducked and all hell broke loose. They had Tasers (which luckily had no effects with her powers), batons, and their hand to hand combat skills. She was quick about knocking them out, whether it was from a mild-shock or a kick to the head. She jumped at the sound of glass breaking before turning and kicking the last agent in the jaw. She turned and saw Steve lying on the ground with his shield under him. "Steve!" She called to him as she ran over, kneeling down beside him. "Are you okay?" She asked. He panted and grunted as he sat up.

"Yeah, are you?" He asked, brushing his fingers against her cheek where she'd gotten cut from the knife of one of the S.T.R.I.K.E agents.

"Yeah, come on, let's go." She said, helping him up before they ran out of the building. They had managed to make it to the garage and onto Steve's motorcycle before they could close down the garage. As they drove down the bridge, they noticed that all of the defensive features were coming alive. They were locking down the whole bridge. Overhead, one of the jets flew around them, turning towards them and aiming their machine gun.

' _Stand down, Captain Rogers. Stand down.'_ The pilot said. Steve punched the accelerator. He managed to dodge the bullets before Katherine took the shield off of her back and handing it to him. He threw it, hitting directly in the middle of the turbines, the jet began to lean to the side. Steve looked back at her.

"Drive." He said and she glanced at him.

"I don't want to ever hear you say that I'm crazy." She said as he stood up in the seat. He jumped on the top of the jet as Katherine moved to grab the handlebars. "Only when you're dating Captain America." She muttered to herself as she slid the bike to a stop, watching Steve use his shield to do everything he could to knock the jet out of the air. She nodded her head when he ran over to her. "Not bad." She said before reeving the engine a couple of times. When Steve settled behind her, she spun the tires slightly and took off down the bridge.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you so much for the support that this story has been getting! It makes me really happy to see that you guys are interested in reading it. I also just want to thank everyone for their amazing reviews! It makes writing this story even better!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Katherine!**

 **XXX**

They'd stopped long enough to change their clothes and ditch the bike before making their way to the hospital. Steve was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a dark blue hoodie with the hood up. Katherine was wearing black skinny jeans with a dark gray, long sleeve Henley (with thumbholes, Katherine's favorite kind). She had a black hoodie on with the hood up and a pair of black knee high boots.

"Explain this to me again." She said softly as they walked.

"Fury came into my apartment last night and was shot by a man with a metal arm. Before he died, he gave me the same flash drive that Romanoff had on the ship." He said quietly, keeping his head down as they walked by people.

"Okay." She said. "And you hid it here somewhere?" She asked and he nodded.

"In the vending machine, behind some gum." He answered.

"Smart." She said, standing beside him when they came to the vending machine. Unfortunately, there was nothing where Steve said the flash drive would be, not even gum. Someone had wanted that flash drive. In the reflection of the glass, they saw Natasha come up behind them, chewing gum. Steve turned around, eyeing the woman for a moment before grabbing her, pushing her back into an open room before pushing her against the wall. Katherine glanced around the hall before stepping into the room as well, closing the door behind her and leaning back against it.

"Where is it?" Steve asked the redhead as he pushed his hood down.

"Safe." She answered.

"Do better." Steve said back.

"Where did you get it?" She asked.

"Why would I tell you?"

"Fury gave it to you. Why?"

"What's on it?"

"I don't know."

"Stop lying."

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers."

"I bet you know Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty. Fury needed a way in, so do you." She spoke after a moment of stuttering over her words.

"I'm not going to ask you again." Steve said, pushing the woman harder against the wall. Katherine laid a hand on Steve's arm. He glanced back at her but didn't let go of Natasha.

"I know who killed Fury." Steve looked surprised. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years."

"So he's a ghost story." Katherine said, coming to stand beside the two of them. Natasha glanced at her.

"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tired near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him, straight through me." She told the story, lifting up her shirt so that they could see the healed bullet wound. "Soviet slug. No rifling. Bye-bye, bikinis."

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now." Katherine said, rolling her eyes and stepping over to the door, glancing out.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried. Like you said, he's a ghost story." She said, holding up the flash drive. Steve took it from her.

"Well, let's find out what the ghost wants." He turned around, putting his hood back up. Katherine did the same thing; Steve pressed a chaste kiss on her lips before they made their way into the hall. Small and short kisses like that were almost a comforting thing for Steve, like he just needed to know that Katherine was there and that she was alright. She wasn't complaining, of course, it was slowly becoming the same thing to her as well. When they made it outside to Natasha's car, Katherine threw her hoodie into the back, switching it out for a leather jacket she'd swiped with their new clothes and a pair of sunglasses.

 **XXX**

"Are we sure this is going to work?" Katherine asked, leaning over the seat to look at the two other heroes.

"Nope." Natasha said. Katherine nodded.

"Great." She said, settling in the back. "Oh!" She said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out small communicators. "We can use these." She placed one in Steve and Natasha's hands.

"What are they?" Steve asked, rolling it over in his palm.

"A communicator we use for the X-Men. They only work with each other, no other stations so no one can hear what we're talking about." She said, putting her communicator in her ear and turning it on.

"Not bad Kat." Natasha said, putting hers in her ear. Steve followed their lead. As they were turning them on, they all beeped once, letting them know that they were all connected and that they were now on a secure network.

"So, the plan is you and Steve are going to find out what is on the drive while I keep a look out for whoever is coming to get us." Katherine said when she got out of the car.

"That's the plan." Natasha said as she walked towards the mall.

"It's a stupid plan." Katherine said to her as she and Steve followed her.

 **XXX**

" _First rule about going on the run is don't run, walk."_ The redhead said in her ear.

" _If I run in these shoes, they're going to fall off."_ Steve said and Katherine chuckled slightly, using her phone as a ruse so that she could look around. Communication went silent for a few minutes as Steve and Natasha made their way to the computers. Katherine had found a good spot without a lot of people around that would allow her to see almost all of the entrances around where the other Avengers were.

" _The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up S.H.I.E.L.D will know exactly where we are."_ Natasha said to them.

" _How much time do we have?"_ Steve asked the woman.

" _About nine minutes from…now."_ Natasha said when she plugged the drive in.

" _Be on alert."_ Steve said, directing it at her.

"You got it Captain." She said, sitting down on a bench, pushing her sunglasses on her head, and looking around.

" _Fury was right about that ship. Somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some kind of AI. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."_ Natasha said as she worked on getting the drive opened.

" _Can you override it?"_ Steve asked.

" _The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly."_ Natasha said before beginning to explain how she was going to track the file. Katherine kept her eyes open for S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

" _Can I help you guys with anything_?" Katherine heard someone ask in the background of Steve and Natasha's communicators.

" _Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations."_ Natasha said in a sickly sweet voice.

" _Right, we're getting married."_ Steve said, trying to sound convincing. Well, Katherine's feelings about Peggy just disappeared. She took in a deep breath, all in the name of surviving.

" _Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?"_ The man asked.

" _New Jersey."_ Steve answered.

" _Oh."_ He said. There was a moment of silence _. "I have those exact same glasses."_

" _Wow, you guys are practically twins."_ Natasha said in a unconvincing voice.

" _Yeah, I wish. Specimen."_ The man said something else but he was far enough away from them so that his voice was muffled. Katherine closed her eyes and sighed. She opened them a moment later and saw Rumlow with some S.T.R.I.K.E members. She pushed her sunglasses over her eyes before standing up, walking in the opposite direction.

"Times almost up guys. S.T.R.I.K.E is in the building. Coming your way." She said as she adjusted the collar of her jacket to hide a little more of her face. She glanced around, no one had recognized her. They were probably looking for her to be with Steve, luckily; maybe their plan threw them off a little.

She'd managed to get out of the mall and into the parking lot. She ducked her head as she walked by the black SUVs that the S.T.R.I.K.E team came in. She didn't seen anyone but better safe than sorry. "I'm in the parking lot." She said into the communicator. "Where are you guys?" She asked, glancing back to the mall.

" _Right behind you. Find something we can use."_ Steve said. She glanced around before walking over to a blue Chevy Silverado. She looked around, making sure no one saw her before she placed hand on the door, using a small jolt of electricity to turn off the alarm and pop the lock on the door. She opened it and got inside. When she saw Steve and Natasha come out of the mall, she placed her hand on the dash, another jolt and the truck rumbled to life. She put it in drive before pulling out of the parking space and pulling up beside them, rolling down the passenger window.

"Need a lift?" She asked with a smile. Steve got into the passenger seat and Natasha got into the back. Katherine glanced around before she pulled out of the parking lot and out onto the main street.

"Alright, so where are we going?" She asked, looking over at Steve.

"Wheaton, New Jersey." She nodded her head.

"Sounds fun." She adjusted the seat slightly so that she could reach the petals better before putting the truck in cruise control as they drove down the road.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the wait! I haven't really had time to write but I'm trying! Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Please review, fave, and follow! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Katherine!**

 **XXX**

"So, how exactly did you steal the truck?" Natasha asked as she leaned in between the seats. She looked and didn't see anything out of place, almost as if she had the key to start the truck but there was no key in the ignition. Katherine glanced at her before holding up her right hand, letting the electricity dance across her fingers.

"I've learned a lot about my powers in the year and a half we haven't seen each other." The brunette said as she looked in her mirrors.

"Mmm." Natasha hummed in response.

"We're burrowing it. Get back there and put your seatbelt on." Steve said, looking at the redhead. She looked at him with a look that was indescribable to the older woman before she sat back and put her seatbelt on.

"Well, I have a question for you Steve, which you do not have to answer." Natasha said from where she was. "I feel like, if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know." Katherine's brow furrowed as she looked at the other woman in the backseat.

"What?" Steve asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Was that your first time kissing someone other than Kat since 1945?" The redhead asked with a smirk. Katherine swerved slightly before turning her head to Steve.

"Kiss? What is she talking about?" The brunette asked.

"Really Natasha? Now?" Steve closed his eyes and sighed before turning his attention to his girlfriend. "Rumlow was coming up the escalator as we were coming down and Natasha said that public displays of affection make people uncomfortable." He said as Katherine turned back to the road, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"Did it?" She asked the man. He didn't answer right away and Katherine rolled her eyes, knowing the answer. "Was it that bad?" Katherine asked Natasha, looking in the rearview mirror.

"I didn't say that." The other woman said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, it kind of sounds like that what you're saying."

"Kathy, relax." Steve said, laying a hand on her thigh. She looked over at the man before nodding softly. They had just gone through all of this with Peggy, Natasha wasn't going to get under her skin as well and make her question her relationship with Steve.

"I didn't say that." Natasha said, leaning as far forward as her seatbelt would allow. "I was just wondering how much practice he's had." Before Katherine could open her mouth, Steve turned around.

"You don't need practice." He said.

"Everyone needs practice." She smiled.

"OMG!" Katherine said, causing them to turn to her. "I was his first and only kisses since 1945! He's 95, not dead." She glanced at the two of them. They both remained quiet, Steve flushing adorably in the passenger seat and Natasha smirking from the backseat.

"Turn here." Steve said, pointing to a little dirt road off of the main road. Katherine flipped her blinker on and slowing down to make the turn. She traveled down the road for at least five minutes before they pulled up to a locked gate. Natasha pulled out her cellphone out of her pocket, looking at the screen as she got out. Steve and Katherine followed her lead. They were far enough back from the road that no one would see them. Katherine put her hand on the hood of the truck, pulling the electricity to cut it off.

"This is it?" Katherine asked as she met up with Steve and Natasha around the front of the truck.

"The file came from these coordinates." Natasha said before they all walked closer to the gate, putting the phone back in her back pocket.

"So did I." Steve said, causing Natasha and Katherine to turn to him. This must be where Steve was stationed during World War Two and where his experiment took place. Steve walked over to the lock holding the gate shut before hitting it with his shield, breaking it easily. He pulled the chain free before pushing the gate open. Natasha and Katherine followed him inside. It didn't take long for the sun to go down and leave them with the fading evening light. "This camp is where I was trained." Steve said after some silence. They were following Natasha through the base as she looked at her cellphone, looking for any kind of radio signals.

"Change much?" The redhead asked, not taking her eyes off of the little screen.

"A little." Steve said quietly. Katherine glanced back at him; he seemed to be in a daze.

"This is a dead end." Natasha said, drawing their attention back to her. "Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off." Steve looked around before something caught his attention.

"What is it?" Katherine asked, following his line of sight. He began walking towards a building. Katherine and Natasha turned to each other, the former shrugging before they followed him.

"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place." Steve said as they walked up to it. Like he did with the gate, he used his shield to break the padlock off. Once it was open, they walked inside. They followed the stairs down to the ground floor and at the bottom, Natasha felt along the wall until she found a light switch. She flicked it on and slowly, the lights came on and the first thing Katherine noticed was the S.H.I.E.L.D insignia on the back wall.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D." Natasha said, sounding a little surprised.

"Maybe where it started." Steve said as he walked around. He was frozen just before S.H.I.E.L.D came into existence, that's why the building was so out of place to him. Steve opened a door off to the side, walking inside. Natasha and Katherine followed him. It was like a storage room, where they kept all of their records and such.

"And there's Stark's father." Natasha said when she saw the picture of Howard Stark on the wall.

"Howard." Katherine said, looking at the picture.

"Who's the girl?" Natasha asked Steve. Steve ignored her question, walking down one aisle to see what was left. As he came to a particular bookshelf, he stopped and turned around.

"Kathy, is there air coming from here?" He asked the woman. She stepped over to him, holding her hand over the space between the two shelves. She closed her eyes and began moving the air around her slightly, noticing that she was pulling air from between the bookshelves. She nodded her head, opening her eyes to look at the man.

"Yeah, there is." She said.

"If you're already working in a secret office, why do you need to hide the elevator?" Steve asked as he pushed the bookshelf over. They stepped over to the control panel; Natasha pulled out her handy little device and scanned the buttons. She was able to see which buttons had fingerprints on them, which revealed to her the code. She turned off the phone and punched in the code. The elevator doors opened with a ding. All three of them stepped inside before Steve hit the down button. The doors closed and the elevator began its decent. The doors opened with a ding and the room on the other side was pitch black. They slowly walked out of the elevator, only getting a few steps away before the doors closed behind them. Katherine glanced back but kept walking. About halfway into the room, the lights began to come on all on their own. Once the room was lit, they were able to see all the computers. Everything in the room was ancient in comparison to the technology of today.

"This can't be the data point. This technology is ancient." Natasha said, looking around. Katherine nodded, a lot of things in the room she hadn't seen in a long time. Natasha smiled to herself before she noticed something on the desk. It looked like a converter for a flash drive. The redhead pulled the drive out of her pocket and holding it up for a moment before plugging it in. When she did that, all of the lights and machines came to life. They all looked around before turning back to the computer, when neon green text appeared on the screen. _INITIATE SYTEM?_ Natasha walked over to the keyboard.

"Y-E-S spells yes." She typed the word. She hit enter and the screen went back before the computer began to power up. "Shall we play a game?" She said with a smirk. She turned to Steve. "It was from a movie that was really…"

"I know, I saw it." He said to her and Katherine chuckled. The computer beeped before what looked like a face appeared.

' _Rogers, Steven Grant; born 1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna; born 1984. Howlett, Katherine Electa; born 1881._ 'Steve glanced over at her.

"What? You never asked when I was born!" She said, shrugging her shoulders. He knew she had been in World War One but he really didn't have a clear idea of how old she really was.

"It's some kind of recording." Natasha said.

' _I am not a recording, Fraulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945. But I am.'_ The voice said before another picture showed up on another monitor. It was a man that Katherine had never seen before.

"You know this thing?" Natasha asked Steve. Steve glanced around the room.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years." Steve explained as he walked behind the machines, looking around.

' _First correction, I am Swiss.'_ Zola said. _'Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving, on 200,000 feet of databanks.'_ Katherine glanced over to Steve was he came up the steps by her side. _'You are standing in my brain.'_

"How did you get here?" Steve asked.

' _Invited.'_ Zola simply said.

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II." Natasha said. "S.H.I.E.L.D recruited German scientists with strategic value."

' _They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own.'_ Zola said.

"Hydra died with the Red Skull." Steve said, interrupting him.

' _Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.'_ Zola replied, showing them a Hydra insignia on the screen before it returned to his face.

"Prove it." Steve said to the machine.

' _Accessing archive.'_ Zola said as two smaller screens began flickering words and letters. _'HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom.'_ The three heroes moved closer to one of the bigger screens at it began showing a video _. 'What we did not realize was that if you try to take freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly.'_ The video included pieces of Hydra, Steve fighting against the Germans, and German military figures. _'After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D. For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not cooperate, history was changed.'_ Katherine noticed at a figure on the screen had the same metal arm Steve was talking about. The Winter Soldier.

"That's impossible. S.H.I.E.L.D would have stopped you." Natasha said as she came to stand beside Steve and Katherine.

' _Accidents will happen.'_ Zola said, bringing up a picture of a newspaper. It was a picture if Howard and the title said that he and his wife died in a car crash. Katherine began chewing on her right thumb nail. The next picture showed Fury with deceased written across his picture _. 'HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to begin security. Once a purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain.'_ Glancing at the man, Katherine noticed the tightness in his jaw. _'Your death amounts to the same as your life. A zero sum.'_ Steve punched the screen where Zola's face was. The screen went black, shattering easily under the force of the punch. He took a few steps back from the screen. Katherine walked over to him; gently grabbing his hand and look at it. He looked at her before looking down at their hands as the woman gently checked him over.

' _As I was saying…'_ Zola said, appearing on another monitor.

"What's on this drive?" Steve asked, pulling away from the woman to stand in front of the new screen.

' _Project Insight requires insight.'_ Zola explained… or didn't really. ' _So, I wrote an algorithm.'_

"What kind of algorithm?" Katherine asked, stepping up beside Steve.

"What does it do?" Natasha asked, stepping up to the man's other side.

' _The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it.'_ Zola said and a second later, the main elevator doors began closing. Steve threw his shield, hoping it would catch between the doors and hold them open but he was a second too late and they slammed together, causing the shield to fly back. Steve caught it easily. Katherine glanced over at Natasha when the woman pulled the beeping cellphone out of her pocket.

"Steve, Kat, we got a bogey." She said, gaining their full attention. "Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops." She looked at them.

"Who fired it?" Steve asked.

"S.H.I.E.L.D." She answered and Katherine nodded her head.

"Of course." She muttered.

' _I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it. It's better this way.'_ Zola said. Natasha grabbed the drive _._

"Okay, Captain. I would love a good plan right now." Katherine said, watching the man look around. Steve reached down and grabbed one of the grates in the floor, pulling it free. Natasha walked over to him and before they could jump in, the back of the building exploded. Katherine made a split second decision and pushed Natasha towards Steve, the man wrapping his arm around the redhead before jumping into the hole, using his shield to cover them. Katherine jumped in, landing on the shield and trying to manipulate the air and fire to make a bubble around them but the force of the blast was too strong. She slipped into the hole beside Steve when debris started to fall from the ceiling and walls but Katherine didn't remember much after blacking out.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I felt because of the wait, you guys deserved two chapters so here's another! Please don't forget to review, fave, and follow! I would mean a lot to me!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Katherine!**

 **XXX**

"Kathy! Kathy!" The woman's hazel eyes blinked open when she heard someone calling her name. "Hey…" She glanced to the right, seeing Steve kneeling beside her. They were out in the open now; Steve probably pulled her and Natasha out. The redhead was lying unconscious behind him. "Don't ever do that again!" Steve said, wanting to hug the woman but not knowing how much pain she was in. The woman offered him a small smile as she sat up slowly, assessing the damage. Steve wrapped a gentle arm around her back to help her sit up. She had a few broken bones with cuts, scrapes, bruises, and burns everywhere but, luckily, they would all heal. She held her arms out and the man gave her a hug, pulling her close. "I thought I'd lost you." He whispered to her and she chuckled before groaning, bruised ribs… alright, just add that to the list.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." She said and Steve chuckled before helping her up.

"Are you okay to walk?" He asked and she took a few small steps before nodding. Her legs felt fine.

"Yeah, let's go." She said, both heroes looking up when they heard jets coming towards them. They looked like S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve knelt down and grabbed Natasha before he ran to the Silverado, still sitting where they left it. Katherine climbed into the driver's seat while Steve placed Natasha in the back and he got into the passenger seat. A hand on the dash started the truck up before she nearly peeled out to get away from the place.

"So, where exactly are we going?" She asked, glancing over at the man.

"A met a man a few days ago. Sam Wilson. He works with the VA." Steve said, looking over at her. She handed her phone to him.

"Look up his address." She said and the man nodded, getting to work on finding out where they were going.

"Are you sure about him?" She asked, looking over him again as she scanned her mirrors, making sure they weren't being followed.

"I think so. I don't have a reason not to trust him." Steve said before reading off the address to her and telling her where her first turn was. She nodded her head.

"If you trust him I trust him." Steve reached over the middle console, grabbing her right hand from the steering wheel and lacing their fingers together. He brought the back of her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss there and she couldn't help but smile slightly.

 **XXX**

A few blocks from Sam's house, Katherine suggested that they ditch the truck. Steve hesitantly agreed before he slipped out and made his way around back to see if he could wake up Natasha. Katherine turned in the driver's seat to look behind her. Steve shook the redhead gently before she jumped awake. She was ready to fight anyone and anything around her.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Take it easy Nat! It's just us!" Steve said, holding his hands up in a surrendering motion. Natasha looked around, catching sight of Katherine before turning back to Steve.

"Where are we?" She asked, letting Steve help her out of the truck. Katherine slipped out of the driver's seat, placing her hand on the hood as she walked by, pulling the electricity from the engine again and locking the doors, even setting the alarm.

"Hopefully a friend's place." Steve as he led the way over to the house. When they reached the door, Steve knocked firmly. A few seconds passed before the blinds were opened to reveal an African American man. He was about 5'10" in height and he was quite handsome. A few seconds later, the door was slid open.

"Hey man." He said to Steve.

"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Steve said to him, looking like he didn't want to ask that of the man. The woman knew they didn't have any other choice.

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha said and Katherine nodded. Sam looked between the three of them before moving aside in the doorway.

"Not everyone." They all came in quickly, Sam looked around to make sure no one had saw them before he slid the door shut behind them.

 **XXX**

The three of them had ended up in the guest room. Natasha and Katherine had each taken a quick shower before Steve was allowed to use the bathroom. The redhead was sitting on one side of the bed, drying her hair with a towel while Katherine sat on the other side, braiding her hair up. The brunette glanced over her shoulders as Steve worked to wash the dirt and soot from his arms, face, and neck. She knows it's not the time for something like this but, have you seen Steve's arms? Damn! And he was all hers. Serious nighttime lovin' was coming after this. Steve came out to lean against the doorway, looking over both women before he settled on Natasha. She just wasn't acting right.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah." She answered just as quietly. Steve threw the towel back into the bathroom before coming to sit on the bed next to Natasha.

"What's going on?" He asked, keeping his voice steady and low. Natasha watched him for a moment before she spoke.

"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D I thought I was going straight." She paused. "But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA." She paused again to let out a sigh. "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business." Steve said, smiling slightly. Natasha let out a huff of breath and a small smile. She'd used those words before with Steve.

"I owe you." She said to him. Katherine looked at them over her shoulder when she finished her hair. Steve shook his head.

"It's okay." He said honestly.

"If it was the other way around, and it as down to me to save your life, now you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?" Natasha asked, completely serious.

"I would now." Steve answered honestly. "And I'm always honest." He said with a small smile.

"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing." She said to him.

"Well, guess I just like to know who I'm fighting." Steve said as he leaned back against the wall.

"I made breakfast." Sam said when he came into the doorway. "If you guys ear that sort of thing." They all smiled at him as he walked back into the kitchen. Katherine scooted across the bed and stood up on the other side before she stopped by Steve's side. The man looked up at her before he gently grabbed her elbow. He gently pulled her down and pressed a kiss to her lips, placing a hand on her cheek as she kissed him back. She pulled away and smiled at him before she made her way to where Sam was in the kitchen.

 **XXX**

"So you're Katherine…" Sam said as she began to make a plate for herself with a little bit of everything. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she stepped into the kitchen and smelt all the food. She glanced up at him and smiled slightly.

"Yep, that's me. I just wish we could have met under better circumstances. It's nice to meet probably the only real friend Steve has here in D.C." She said, offering the man a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too. You always end up in our conversations somehow." Sam said with a smile.

"Uh-oh, should I be worried?" She asked playfully as she took her plate to the table and sitting down.

"Uh, I don't think so. Nothing above PG rating. I can't get him to talk about the explicit stuff." Sam said setting a glass of water beside her plate. They both laughed softly.

"Thanks." She said, sitting down. He laid a gentle hand on her back.

"No problem." He moved back into the kitchen. "So, Steve told me you were a soldier?" She glanced over at the man; he was trying to be nonchalant about asking her. She chuckled.

"Yeah, although, I'm more from Steve's era." She said, picking up a piece of bacon and taking a bite.

"Are you like him?" Sam asked, leaning against the counter as he looked at her.

"Well… not really. I'm a mutant and one of my abilities is super-regenerative healing. That means that I heal way after than anyone else… except my brothers who have the same ability." Katherine said, picking up her fork and taking a bite of her eggs. "I was born way earlier than Steve as well."

"How much earlier?" Sam asked, now extremely interested in hearing her story.

"Steve was born in 1918 and I was born in 1881." She said, turning to the man. She watched as he did the math in his head. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"You're 133!?" He asked and she chuckled, nodding her head. "Well, let's be honest, you don't look a day over 1988." She laughed.

"Well, thank you." She said, smiling at the man as she took a sip of her water. Sam smiled back at her. Steve and Natasha finally came out to join them, making their own plates before sitting at the table as well. Once they were all settled at the table, Natasha spoke.

"So, the question is, who at S.H.I.E.L.D could launch a domestic missile strike?" She asked. Steve had settled in beside Katherine.

"Pierce." Steve answered, looking at the woman.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." Natasha said as she moved around the table.

"But he's not working alone." Steve said, playing with Katherine's braided hair. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"So was Jasper Sitwell." She said, looking at the pair. Steve and Katherine looked over at her and the brunette nodded.

"So, the real question is, how do the three of the most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D officer in broad daylight?" Steve asked, not really expecting an answer.

"The answer is, you don't." Sam said, coming over to the table. He laid a file down on the table in front of Steve.

"What's this?" He asked, letting go of Katherine's hair and shifting forward before standing up.

"Call it a resume." Sam said, leaning against the counter of the kitchen. Natasha came over and grabbed the picture from the top of the file while Katherine went for the file itself.

"Is this Bakhmala?" The redhead asked. "The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you? You didn't say he was a Pararescue." She said to Steve as she continued to look over the picture before she handed it over to the man.

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked and Sam nodded.

"Yeah."

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use? A stealth chute?" Natasha asked Sam.

"No." Sam said, shaking his head before pointing to the file that Katherine was flipping through very slowly, as if she was trying to retain all of the information inside to memory. "Those." Steve turned to the woman.

"Kat?" He said to her. She glanced up at him before handing him the file. He opened it up and immediately stopped at the first picture. "I thought you said you were a pilot." Steve looked up at the other man when he saw what Sam was talking about.

"I never said I was a pilot." Sam said with a smile. Steve shook his head.

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam." He looked over at his friend. "You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in." Sam said and Steve pursed his lips and nodded his head.

"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade. Behind three guarded-gates and a 12-inch steel wall." Sam said. Steve looked at Katherine. The woman took a sip of her water before shrugging her shoulders and putting her cup down.

"I've dealt with worse." She said, looking up at her boyfriend.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Steve said, setting the file back on the table.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys! So this chapter wasn't even a thought in my mind until I got an amazing review from Jo! She gave me the idea and I thought it would be so much fun to write! Thanks to everyone for the reviews, faves, and follows!**

 **And I have been collecting random drabbles for Katherine and her friendships and relationship between her and the other Avengers! It's titled** _ **Life as an Avenger**_ **and I hope you all would check it out and let me know what you think! Thanks again to the wonderful Jo for bringing this potential chapter to my attention! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Katherine Howlett!**

 **XXX**

"Okay… so how are we doing this? I mean, Fort Meade is in Florida." Sam asked, looking at the three Avengers.

"Well… I have no idea." Steve said and Katherine rolled her eyes, pulling out her cell phone.

"It's easy. I call Logan or Remy and they bring me the Blackbird and we use that in stealth mode to get to Florida. We land it near the base without being discovered and Natasha and I go in to get the wings. Easy in and out." The woman stated as she dialed her phone, acting like she was talking about the weather. Sam, Natasha, and Steve looked at each other before turning back to the woman. The phone was ringing as she set it on the table with the speaker phone on.

" _What's up Buttercup?"_ Logan said when he answered the phone. Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Nothing much, you seen the news?" She asked.

" _Who hasn't? You're one of the most wanted criminals in the nation right now. You and Spangles did a bang up job this time."_ Logan said with a chuckle.

"Who's that?" Sam asked Steve in a hushed voice.

"Her brother." Steve said to the man.

"Ah…" Sam said quietly before continuing to listen to the siblings.

"Yeah, that's actually why I was calling." Katherine said to him, scratching the back of her head as she looked at Steve.

" _I love you and I respect Spangles but I'm not getting involved."_ The other man said.

"You don't need to get involved, I just need someone to bring me the Blackbird. We need it to get to Florida. We have a plan." She said, looking back at her phone.

" _That sounds a lot like getting involved."_ Logan said and she rolled her eyes.

"Just get your ass to DC and bring the Blackbird." She said and the man chuckled.

" _Alright, alright. I'll be there soon."_

"Thanks so much Logan." She said with a smile.

" _Uh-huh, see you._ "

"Love you." She said before hanging up the phone. She turned to everyone. "Done."

"Um… okay…" Sam said, nodding his head slightly.

"So, what did you say we have to get passed?" The brunette woman asked.

"Three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall." Sam said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the counter behind him. The woman nodded her head, grabbing her glass to drink.

"I think we can handle that." Katherine said, looking up at Natasha. The other woman nodded and Steve looked over at Sam with a slightly worried look. Katherine's phone vibrated and the woman slid the screen open. "Time to go." She said, standing up.

 **XXX**

"I think this is a really bad idea." Steve said from where he was looking out the window of the Blackbird.

"Nah… it'll be fun." Katherine said as she looked at Natasha. They didn't have any suits so they were all going in with civilian clothes.

"What's the plan Lieutenant?" Logan said from where he was sitting in the pilot's seat. She stuck her tongue out at him before unrolling the blueprints she had gotten her hands on.

"It's a pretty easy straight shot." The woman said, pointing to the path that leads to where Sam's wings were being stored. "The main door will be the hardest part because that is the one directly outside. We immediately turn right and follow that one down before turning left. There will be a door for authorized personal only, we get in there and follow it down. The three guarded gates are there and once we're past those, the 12-inch doors. Pretty simple really."

"So me and you?" Steve asked and the woman shook her head.

"No, me and Natasha." She looked up at her boyfriend.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sam asked as they all looked at him. "I mean…"

"Yes we're women but you don't want to mess with the only two women on the Avengers team, do you?" She asked, standing up to cross her arms over her chest and raise an eyebrow at the man. He nodded slowly.

"You're right… I don't." Katherine gave him a cute and charming smile before turning back to the blueprints.

"What about electric hand scanners, retinal scanners, or coded doors?" Natasha asked and Katherine turned to her.

"Did you forget that I started a truck with nothing but a little bolt of electricity?" The brunette asked and the redhead rolled her eyes.

"So electronic things are covered." Steve said, drawing their attention. "What about the guards?" Both women gave him a blank look. "Right… Natasha…" He said, looking down.

"Give us… twenty minutes in and out. We'll be careful not to be seen." Natasha said as she leaned over the table to look at the blueprints. Katherine and Steve nodded.

"Twenty minutes." The man said, handing his shield to the brunette. She smiled as she took it, putting her right arm through it.

 **XXX**

"Remember, we are not killing anyone. We're just knocking them unconscious." The older woman said and Natasha nodded her head while rolling her eyes.

"Is this even going to work?" The redhead asked. Katherine pulled the shield off of her arm.

"Yep." She said before throwing it, knocking out the four men guarding the door before it came back to her. She caught it easily and placed it back on her arm. "Let's go." She said as they quickly ran across the open area from where they were hiding the tree line. When they reached the door, they saw that it was a card scanner. Immediately, Natasha reached down and grabbed the card from the belt of one of the men, running it through the scanner. The red-light turned green before the door unlocked.

"We're in." Natasha said as she followed Katherine into the building, quietly shutting the door behind her.

 **XXX**

" _We're in."_ Natasha said through the speakers of the Blackbird.

"Alright, remember, twenty minutes." Steve said to them. The Blackbird fell silent at the three men waited.

"Who's the bub?" Logan asked after a few seconds. Steve looked up at him before glancing at Sam.

"Right, Sam this is Logan Howlett, Katherine's younger brother. Logan, this is Sam Wilson." Steve introduced and the two men shook hands.

"Speaking of Katherine, was it just me or did anyone else notice the tension between her and Natasha?" Sam said, looking between the two other men. Logan nodded his head.

"Yeah, are they always like that?" He asked before they both turned to Steve. The man nodded slightly.

"Yeah, they've never really been good friends… I mean, she gets along with the other Avengers except her." The Super Soldier explained. Logan snorted a laugh.

"Yeah, that sounds like her. It takes her a while to warm up to women more than men. I mean, all her life she's been with men, fighting beside them and living with them because of the wars she was in with me and Creed. It made it easier for her to be around them. Since moving to Charles's, I guess she had to learn to be social. I think Ororo was the only one that she liked right away… well, her and Rogue." Logan explained and Steve nodded, completely understanding since he was from the same time period.

"Ten minutes." Sam said, looking at the watch on his wrist. "I wonder how they're doing…"

 **XXX**

They followed the path that they had planned out on the blueprints, it was easy enough. When they got to the door with 'Authorized Personal Only' written on it, it was a coded door. Katherine put her left hand on the panel, giving it a little shock until it almost overloaded. The door popped open. The women stepped inside and closed the door behind them. They ran down the hallway, sliding into little crevices when they got closer to the first guarded gate. Katherine took in a deep breath and let out the air slowly, to Natasha's shock, instead of her clear breath coming out, it was smoky and wispy. As it filled the hallway, the redhead realized that it was fog.

"What's that?" One of the guards asked. There were only two of them.

"I don't know… do you think its smoke?" The second man asked the first.

"I don't think so. It looks like… fog…" The first man said, sounding unsure. Katherine looked over at Natasha and nodding her head. The redhead nodded back before quickly coming around the corner and disappearing from the other woman's sight. She heard two thuds on the floor before the woman waved her arms, using the wind to make the fog disappear. As she came around the corner, she saw Natasha waiting for her. One of the men was unconscious but the other one had his neck turned at a horrible angle. Katherine grabbed Natasha's arm as she turned away from the woman to let her closer to the panel on the wall.

"We weren't supposed to kill anyone." The older woman growled to her.

"I do what I have to." Natasha said as she pulled her arm away from her. They glared at each other before Katherine placed her hand on the side of the hand scanner. Like the door before it, she overloaded it easily before the door opened. Both women ran through and continued down the hall before they got close to the second door. They hid in crevices again before Katherine glanced around.

"Go…" Katherine whispered, nudging her head towards the guards.

"What?" The redhead whispered back.

"I have a plan… go!" The brunette nudged her head again before she used the wind to lift her up, she was able to quickly pop open the vent and climb inside quietly. Natasha sighed.

"Apparently she's been hanging out with Clint too much." She whispered before she came around the corner, walking over to the guards. "Hey boys." She said with a charming smile.

"Freeze!" The men said, raising their guns to the redhead. She stopped and raised her hands in a surrendering motion. A second later, Katherine landed behind the men, pressing a finger to the back of their necks, sending a small shock to their systems. They both fell unconscious. Katherine turned and lifted her hand to the retinal scanner, overloading it and the door popped open.

"Let's go… ten minutes." The brunette said, looking over her shoulder.

 **XXX**

They finally made it to the 12-inch steel doors. "Okay…" Natasha began. "There are no guards and nothing electrical here… how are we going to get in there?" Natasha asked the other woman.

"The only way we can." She said, snapping her fingers and making a small flame appear from her fingertips. She knelt down and placed it to the bottom of the door, beginning to cut through it similar to a plasma cutter.

"How long is this going to take, we got five minutes." Natasha said, looking down at her phone. Katherine chuckled humorlessly.

"More time than that. I'm going as fast as I can." She said, focusing on what she was doing.

' _How much longer?'_ Steve's voice asked from the comm links the girls were still using from the mall.

"The steel doors are going to take a little bit of time." Natasha said back to him as she watched Katherine work.

' _How much time?'_ Steve asked. Natasha stayed silent as she looked at Katherine for an answer.

"At least ten minutes." The brunette said as she got a little higher on the door.

' _I thought you guys said twenty minutes not thirty.'_ Sam said, joining in the conversation.

"Yeah well… plasma cutters only go so fast." Natasha said and Katherine turned at glare at the woman. The brunette turned back to what she was doing. "Well, be out soon."

' _Just hurry.'_ Steve said and both women nodded their heads without answering the man.

 **XXX**

"Steve, relax. They're fine." Sam said, watching as Steve began pacing back and forth. The last time he'd talked to both women it was almost twenty minutes ago. That made their official time inside forty minutes, twenty more than the women originally said.

"They've been in there too long! What if something happened and they can't call us? Shouldn't we go in there and make sure they're okay?" Steve asked as he continued to pace.

"Spangles, relax. Kat would tell us if she needed help." Logan said, watching the man pace. Before Steve could open his mouth to answer his brother-in-law, the door of the Blackbird opened and the women came onto the jet. They looked perfectly fine; Natasha was first with Katherine following her, the shield on her arm and Sam's wings on her back.

"Hey boys! We came with surprises!" She said, throwing Steve his shield before pulling the wings off her back and hanging them to Sam. The man looked from the wings in his hand to the women in front of him.

"A part of me wants to know how this happened but the other part of me tells me that would be a really, really bad idea." Katherine smiled at the man, nodding her head.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Her smile faded when she turned to Steve.

"Kathy, you said twenty minutes…" He said, coming to stand in front of the woman.

"I know, things weren't exactly like we'd prepared for." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I know but…"

"Stevie, I had a job. I wasn't going to stop halfway through because of the time limit. We had everything under control and we got the wings. There's not much else." She said, putting her hands on hips. Steve sighed, reaching out to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into a hug. She hugged him back, leaning up to place a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Not to stop this sickening moment but where am I dropping you guys off?" Logan asked from the pilot seat.

"Back around Sam's house. I think we have some more plans that we need to do and figure out." Katherine said as she pulled away from Steve. Logan nodded, starting up the jet.

"Alright." They all sat in their seats, strapping in and feeling the jet rise into the air, heading back to DC.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the wait! Life happened. I hope you guys are still enjoying the story! Please let me know what you think! Please review, fave, and follow!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than Katherine!**

 **XXX**

"And you should show up as Alexander Pierce." Katherine said, handing the cell phone back to Sam. They were sitting at a small table outside of the place where Sitwell was having lunch. She'd spent nearly 20 minutes trying to reroute the wires in the phone and adding a new program to make the number show up as Pierce in Sitwell's phone. She knew how to do it, maybe not quickly but she did. At least she was hoping. They were about to find out if it actually worked.

"You sure?" Sam asked the woman as she pulled her sunglasses off the top of her head to place them over her eyes.

"Well, I'm not Tony Stark or Bruce Banner but I know a thing or two. Try it." She said, pointing over to Sitwell, now that he was alone. Sam typed in the number, whispering to himself as he did before he put the phone to his ear. A few seconds later, Sitwell reached into his suit jacket, pulling out his phone. He turned to the two men behind him, saying something to them before they left. When he was alone, he answered the phone, bringing it to his ear.

"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious." Sam said and Katherine resisted the urge to laugh. Sitwell stopped moving. If Katherine had to guess, he was asking who it was. "The good-looking guy in the sunglasses with the hot babe, your 10 o'clock." Sam said. Give her 10 points for knowing what Sitwell was asking and give Sam 25 points for calling her a hot babe. Sitwell began looking around. "Your other ten o'clock." Sam said and Katherine couldn't resist chuckling that time. "There you go." Sam said when Sitwell saw them. Katherine pushed her sunglasses up, letting him know exactly who she was, waving with her fingers before taking a sip of her tea, letting her sunglasses fall back into place. Sam lifted his glass to the man. Katherine could see the man say something.

"Did he ask what we want?" She asked Sam quietly and he nodded.

"You're going to go around the corner to your right. There's a gray car two spaces down. The three of us are going to take a ride." Sam said. Katherine looked back at Sitwell. _Why would I do that._ "Because that tie looks really expensive and I'd hate to mess it up." Sitwell looked down at his tie and saw the red dot. He stopped moving and began to look around to see if he could see anyone. Katherine knew he wouldn't. Especially considering it was Natasha with a laser pointer that Katherine had managed to swipe at a convenient store. After a fruitless search, Sitwell hung up his phone and replaced it in his suit jacket before making his way towards the corner.

"Very nice." Katherine said as they stood up. Sam stood beside the woman, offering his arm to her. She chuckled as she took it.

"Well, I try." Sam said as they began to follow Sitwell.

 **XXX**

Katherine watched Sitwell fly across the roof, grunting when he hit the ground. "Tell me about Zola's algorithm." Steve said as he walked towards the man. Sitwell stood, putting his glasses back on.

"Never heard of it." Sitwell said, stepping backwards.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"

"I was throwing up. I get seasick." Sitwell just kept walking backwards until he hit the edge. He began to fall over when Steve grabbed him and pulled him upright. "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof?" Sitwell asked as Katherine came to stand next to Steve, Natasha just off his left side. "Because that's really not your styles, Rogers."

"You're right. It's not." Steve said, releasing the man's coat to straighten it out. "It's hers." Steve said, moving to the side before Natasha took a step forward and kicked Sitwell off the roof. The man screamed as he fell.

"Oh, wait. Spring or summer? I think a fall wedding would be nice too." Natasha said to Steve as if it was an afterthought. Katherine looked over at them, raising an eyebrow. She had no idea what they were talking about.

"I don't know Nat. I'm thinking spring." Steve replied.

"I think it would be nice."

"Yeah, I think she would like a fall wedding too." Suddenly, Sam flew past them, holding Sitwell by the collar. He dropped the man on the roof before flying a little higher before landing. When he did, the wings folded up.

"That's never going to get old." Katherine said with a smile as she, Steve, and Natasha walked over to the man and Sitwell.

"Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing insight's targets." Sitwell said from where he was kneeling on the ground as he panted for breath.

"What targets?" Steve asked the man.

"You!" Sitwell said, pointing to the man. The four of them went silent. "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Logan Howlett, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA. Now or in the future."

"In the future? How could it know?" Steve asked. Sitwell began laughing.

"How could it not?! The 21st century is a digital book." Sitwell said as he stood up. "Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."

"And what then?"

"Oh my God. Pierce is going to kill me." Sitwell said. His tone was breathy, like he just realized his mistake. Which he probably did. He just told three of the world's greatest heroes HYDRA's plan.

"What then?" Steve said, taking a step towards the other man.

"Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time." He said and they were all silent.

"Sounds like we're taking a road trip." Katherine said, beginning to walk towards the stairs. The other four people on the roof remained silent before they followed her. Sam turned first, walking down the stairs before Natasha and Steve followed, making sure Sitwell didn't sneak away.

 **XXX**

Sam and Steve had taken the front seat of Sam's car while Katherine, Natasha, and Sitwell were in the back. "HYDRA doesn't like leaks." Sitwell said. Katherine looked at him.

"Then why don't you just zip it." She said, raising an eyebrow at the man before turning back forward.

"Insight's launching in 16 hours. We're cutting it a little bit close here." Natasha said as she leaned forward between the seats to talk to Sam and Steve.

"I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly." Steve said his plan.

"What? Are you crazy?" Sitwell asked and Katherine looked over at him, once again raising an eyebrow. "That is a terrible, terrible idea." There was thud on the top of the car and a second later, the window next to Sitwell was broken and he was pulled out of the car into the other lane of oncoming traffic. He was hit by a semi… Natasha and Katherine looked on in shock before the man moved back onto the top of the car. When the first gunshot sounded, Natasha and Katherine jumped into the front seat. Natasha jumped into Steve's lap while Katherine had somehow managed to do the same with Sam and not interfere with his driving. Natasha and Katherine grabbed the man's heads and pulled them forward, avoid them hitting hit with a bullet to the head. Steve reached down and threw the car into park. The tires locked up as the car tried to stop, throwing the man down onto the street. The man rolled when he hit the ground and used his left arm, his metal arm, to dig into the asphalt and slow his slide. This was the man that Steve said killed Fury. This was the Winter Soldier.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, things are crazy here between work and all of the errands I've been running. I'm going to try to update a little of everything today! Please don't forget to fave, follow, and review!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Katherine!**

 **XXX**

Natasha grabbed her gun from her boot, aiming it at the man standing in front of them before the car suddenly lurched forward. They'd been rammed from behind by a Hummer causing the woman to drop the gun into the floor. Sam slammed his foot down on the breaks, trying to keep the car from going forward but the force of the Hummer behind them moved them forward, ever closer to the Winter Soldier. The man jumped and landed on the top of the car again. Sam hit he breaks again, they squealed in protest as the car kept being pushed forward.

"Nat! Now would be a really good time to find that gun!" Katherine said, looking up at the roof, trying to figure out how to use her electricity without shocking everyone else in the car. The woman covered her face when the man's metal arm came through the windshield, grabbing the top of the steering wheel before pulling it out of the car.

"Shit!" Sam yelled. Natasha had finally found her gun, aiming it at the roof before letting loose three rounds. The Winter Soldier jumped onto the hood of the Hummer, which had backed off of them before coming back and ramming them again. The car just swerved all over the road since there was no steering wheel to control it. Katherine watched as Steve put his shield on his right arm before grabbing Natasha.

"Hang on!" He yelled to them as car hit the road divider, causing it to flip. Steve reached over and grabbed Sam and Katherine, pulling them close when he broke the door free, using it and the shield to slide across the asphalt. As the door came to a stop, Sam and Katherine had been knocked off. The woman grunted when she stopped rolling, her head was throbbing and she was pretty sure she had a broken wrist. The brakes screeched on the Hummer as it came to a stop. She stood up in time to watch the Winter Soldier aim a grenade launcher at Steve, hitting the shield and causing him to fly off the bridge.

"Steve!" She called to him before she ran for cover; the Winter Soldier wasn't the only one they had to worry about. Although, since she was now in the open, she was free to use her powers. Natasha fired off a couple rounds before she had to run. Katherine caught her breath as she leaned against a car. "This is going swimmingly." She said to herself as she snapped her fingers, a small bolt of lightning appeared. She did it again and again, running through all of the elements that she could control. Wind was definitely going to be useful for all of the bullets and lighting for knocking them unconscious, everything else was learn as you go. She peeked around the car as the Winter Soldier jumped from the bridge. She glanced around, she was close enough to the edge she should be able to make it without drawing too much attention.

She ran towards the edge and jumped down, using the wind to break her fall. When she landed, she saw the Winter Soldier walking after Natasha. She began to follow them when four HYDRA agents jumped down from the bridge and began firing at the overturned buss where Steve must've landed. Katherine stayed hidden in the shadow of the bridge. Right before the gas tank on the bus exploded, Steve jumped out and rolled to his shield and grabbed it. The bullets bounced off of it easily. The woman watched as Steve deflected a few bullets, killing a few of the agents. She heard gunfire from the roof right before another agent went down, it must've been Sam. The last agent had a hand-held machine gun and was firing everything he had at Steve. Before the Captain could move, the woman threw her hand out, lightning leaving her fingertips and going straight through the man's heart. A moment later, he dropped dead on top of the car he was standing on. Steve lowered his shield, running over to her and throwing his left arm around her neck and pulling her close.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She said, pulling away from him, putting her hands on his chest. "The Winter Soldier went after Natasha. We need to go help her." Steve nodded.

"I know." He said before looking up at Sam, who was firing on another HYDRA agent.

"Go! I got this!" He yelled down to them. Steve nodded and grabbed Katherine's hand, pulling her in the direction Natasha had gone.

 **XXX**

The pair of heroes managed to show up just in time. Steve immediately let go of Katherine so that he could take on the Winter Soldier, which Katherine wasn't going to complain about. The two men collided and Katherine could hear the Vibranium of the shield vibrating. The brunette turned and ran over to Natasha, kneeling down in front of her. "Natasha! Nat!" The redhead looked at her, gasping for breath. "Relax, okay? Let me see." Katherine said, gently peeling the other woman's hand away from her shoulder. It was a through-and-through, so at least there were no bullets that she had to dig out. "Alright, good news. No bullet." The woman said with a small smile. "Bad news… you were shot." She said, looking sad.

"No shit… Sherlock." Natasha said to her, her gasps coming few and far between. Katherine smiled slightly.

"Good to see you're still in fighting spirits." She turned when the sounds of fighting stopped. She had gotten used to the sounds of their grunting, the shield vibrating, the mechanics of the arm whirling and so when it all silent, the woman was slightly worried. She glanced over the car to see Steve and the Winter Soldier at a stand-still. Steve had managed to knock the other man's mask from his face.

' _Bucky?'_ She heard him ask. There was no way that was him… he died in World War II.

' _Who the hell is Bucky?'_ The Winter Soldier –Bucky– said as he lifted his gun. Fortunately, Sam chose that moment to fly in and knock the man off of his feet. Bucky rolled to his feet, seemingly weighing options before aiming the gun again. Katherine stood up, holding her palm out and making a stream of fire hit the gas tank behind the man, causing the car to explode. When the smoke cleared, the man was gone. Steve looked back at her before turning back. It only took a few seconds for them to be surrounded by the S.T.R.I.K.E team after that. They grabbed Sam and Steve, making their way to Natasha and Katherine. The older woman let electricity dance between her fingers as the two women were surrounded.

"Lieutenant! Get on your knees! Get on your knees!" Jack Rollins yelled at her. She let the electricity travel up her arms to her shoulders, glancing at each agent around her. She noticed Steve being handcuffed by Rumlow. "It's over Lieutenant. Get on your knees." Rollins said to her again, none of them lowering their guns. If anything, Rollin's gun went higher, to her head.

"Kat." Natasha said from where she said, causing the brunette to look back at her. "Do it." She said and Katherine took in a deep breath through her nose before letting the electricity dissipate. She held up her hands as she slowly got to her knees, watching each man closely as they came to surround her and Natasha. She was handcuffed quickly by Rollins before she was forced back onto her feet by him. They lead Natasha away in front of her so that she would be able to see her. They were loaded into one of the S.T.R.I.K.E transport vans. Once they were all in, the van began to move. It was silent inside.

"It was him." Steve said. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me." Katherine bumped her knee against Steve's

"How is that even possible? It was like, 70 years ago." Sam said from where he was sitting closer to the front of the van.

"Zola." Steve answered simply. "Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and…" Katherine pushed her knee against his a little harder before leaning into him, gaining the man's attention. He looked so much like a kicked puppy.

"None of that's you fault, Steve." She said to him. He sighed, looking down.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky." Katherine sucked her teeth before glancing at one of the S.T.R.I.K.E agents beside her.

"We need a doctor here." Sam said to the agent beside him. "If we don't put pressure on the wound, she's going to bleed out here in the truck." The agent held up a small electrified baton at him. He jumped slightly before the agent hit the other with it, knocking him unconscious with a kick to the face. They all waited with baited breath for the man to remove his mask. It revealed… Marla Hill.

"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." She said once she had the helmet off. She looked at Sam before turning to Steve. "Who is this guy?" She asked before turning her attention to Katherine when the metal cuff fell to a ball of metal at her feet. Katherine looked around at them.

"What?"

"You can do that?" Sam asked, nudging the metal with his foot.

"Yeah… the elements in metal come from the Earth. It counts as an Earth element." She reached over to Steve's hands, making quick work of the metal cuffs before moving onto Natasha and then Sam.

"That's great to know. It'd be really impressed if you could get us out of here." Sam said, rubbing his wrists.

"That would be my job." Maria said, holding up a plasma cutter.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait! I've lost motivation but it's back! Here's the next chapter! Please review, fave, and follow! :D**

 **XXX**

When they got to the desired location, Steve got out first helping Natasha out before Sam got out and helped Katherine out. They made their way inside the dam before a man came running towards them. "GSW. She's lost at least a pint." Maria said to the man, he must be a doctor.

"Maybe two." Sam said to the man as he and Steve helped Natasha walk.

"Let me take her." The man said.

"She'll want to see him first." Maria said, leading them deeper into the dam. _See who?_ Katherine pushed the thoughts aside as she followed the woman. They came to an open area in the dam before Maria pulled back a plastic curtain, revealing Nick Fury lying on a hospital bed… very much alive. Steve and Natasha looked at the man shocked.

"About damn time." Fury said when he saw all of them standing there. Sam looked at the man before looking over at Natasha and Steve before turning his attention to Katherine. He raised an eyebrow at her so she leaned in closer to him.

"That's Nick Fury. He's supposed to be dead." She whispered. Sam nodded his head.

"But he's alive." Sam whispered back.

"I know. I'm just as lost as you are." She said before standing up straight again.

 **XXX**

The doctor treated Natasha as she sat at the end of Fury's bed, looking around. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache." Fury listed off all of the injuries he's sustained.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor said.

"Let's not forget that." Fury said back. "Otherwise, I'm good."

"They cut you open. Your heart stopped." Natasha said to him.

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him but we found a use for it." Fury explained.

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked from where he was standing beside Katherine.

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful." Maria said instead.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury said. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust." They were all silent, coming back to the realization that Hydra had practically taken over S.H.I.E.L.D.

 **XXX**

"I need some air." Katherine said briefly and quietly before she stepped out of the large room and back into the narrow hallway. She took in a deep breath; she needed a moment away from all of the craziness. She wasn't sure how long she was outside the room before she heard someone walking towards her.

"Everything okay there Katherine?" The woman turned when she heard Sam behind her. She watched him for a moment before nodding her head softly.

"Please call me Kat and…" She paused, taking in a deep breath. "I really don't know."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked as he walked closer to her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"I thought after Loki, everything would go back to normal. Steve came with me to the institute and we lived as normal lives as we could. S.H.I.E.L.D didn't bother us until nearly six months later when they needed us to do a mission. I didn't go and Steve had gotten kidnapped. I ended up working with S.H.I.E.L.D again so that we could get him back but…" The woman paused, thinking. She chewed her lip briefly. "I want my life to go back to the way it was before the Avengers. That was easy and simple. Now… I'm one of the most wanted people in the Nation." She didn't care if it seemingly didn't make sense to the other man, she was just happy to get that off of her chest. Sam wrapped his arms around the woman, turning her so that he could hug her, laying his head on top of hers.

"I know there is nothing I could say that could make this better, especially since I don't know you that well but… I can promise you that things will work out… and for the better." Sam pulled away, brushing some hair back behind her ear and smiling at her. She smiled back slightly before taking a step back and out of Sam's arms.

"Thanks." He offered her a smile before Steve peeked his head into the room. His eyes landed on Katherine and for a moment, he remained silent. She could see the gears turning in his head. "Yeah Steve?" She asked while raising an eyebrow, causing the man to blink.

"Fury wants to talk to us again." He said and she nodded, walking back into the room. She stopped next to Steve before turning and hugging him close and standing up on her tiptoes to press a chaste kiss to his lips. He barely had enough time to kiss her back before she pulled away. She settled flat on her feet before grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together before they made their way back into the large room. She could hear Sam walking behind them.

 **XXX**

"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize." Fury said, holding a picture of Alexander Pierce in his hands. "He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility. See, its stuff like this that gives me trust issues."

"We have to stop the launch." Natasha said from where she sat on Katherine's right.

"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." Fury said as he opened up a case. Inside were three chips.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized." Maria explained as she turned the computer screen to them, allowing them to see the diagram on the screen.

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own." Fury continued.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are going to die." Maria finished, turning the computer back to herself.

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers are HYDRA. We have to get past them, insert these three server blades. And maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left…"

"We're not salvaging anything!" Steve said, interrupting Fury. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."

"S.H.I.E.L.D had nothing to do with this." Fury interrupted Steve this time.

"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends." Steve said in his captain tone. "S.H.I.E.L.D's been compromised. You said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed." Fury said back to him.

"How many people paid the price before you did?" Steve asked seriously and the room went silent and Fury looked around at everyone before he looked down at the table.

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

"Even if you had, would you have told me?" Steve asked. "Or would you have compartmentalized that, too? S.H.I.E.L.D, HYDRA, it all goes."

"He's right." Maria said and Katherine nodded. Fury looked from Maria to Katherine to Natasha and finally to Sam.

"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower." Sam said and Katherine chuckled, smiling at the man. Fury nodded his head slightly.

"Well… " He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain." Steve gave the man a small nod before reaching over and grabbing Katherine's hand, lacing their fingers together.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Thank you all for being patient! It's a pretty short chapter but I hope you like it and please don't forget to review, fave, and follow! :D**

 **XXX**

Katherine walked up beside Steve as he stood looking out over the bridge. He was deep in thought, jumping slightly when the woman slipped under his right arm and wrapped her arms around his waist. He glanced down at her before wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her even closer and pressing a lingering kiss to the top of her head before resting his forehead there. They stood there; enjoy each other's company in the comfortable silence before a voice spoke.

"He's gonna be there, you know." Sam said as he walked closer to the couple.

"I know." Steve said as he picked his head up and looked out over the bridge again.

"Look, whoever he used to be and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop." Sam said as he slowly walked closer to the couple. He came to stand beside Katherine, his hands in his pockets.

"I don't know if I can do that." The captain said quietly.

"Well, he might not give you a choice. He doesn't know you." Sam said in his own quiet voice. Steve nodded his head, leaning his chin against the top of Katherine's head as he looked over at Sam.

"He will." He turned back. "Gear up. It's time." Steve began walking, keeping his arm around Katherine as he lead her away.

"You gonna wear that?" Sam asked, motioning to the two of them.

"No. If you're gonna fight a war, you got to wear a uniform." The man said, looking back at Sam.

"Now to just find one." She said, nudging him with her shoulder. He kissed the top of her head again.

"I have one in mind."

 **XXX**

Steve disappeared to get a suit and a thought came to Katherine. She didn't have any suit. She was also sure that there was no way she was going to wear one of the S.H.I.E.L.D suits they had available to her.

"We figured you didn't have any suits with you so we took the liberty of having something made for you. If you're going to be an Avenger, you can't wear the symbol of the X-Men." Fury said and the woman was about to argue when he turned to Maria and nodded. She returned it before getting up and leaving the room. Katherine glanced at Fury and a moment later, Maria came back into the room with two boxes in her hands. She handed them to Katherine before going back to sit next to Fury. Katherine watched them both before she set the boxes on the table and opening the smallest box. Inside was the bulk of the new suit. She's never seen this one before. She pulled out the top half; it was a vest with a low 'V'. It was short enough that it would show off her midriff. It reminded her of the suit she wore as an X-Man. She set it aside before reaching back into the box, pulling out two mid-bicep length gloves. She set those on top of the vest before reaching back in for the last time and pulling out the pants. They were made out of the same leather material as the vest and the gloves. She set the pants with the rest of the clothes before she set the box aside before opening the second box, inside was a pair of black, leather thigh-high boots. They even had a decent height heel on them (although, Katherine wasn't sure what that had to do with anything).

All and all, it wasn't a bad suit.

"It's not normal leather." Maria said, gaining the other woman's attention. The woman turned her attention to Maria and Fury, glancing between them as she picked up the vest.

"It's actually a Kevlar-like substance that is designed for maximum protective qualities. It is affective against most rounds. It thermo-regulates and is water and fire-proof and works with all elements and factors of your powers."

"Wow…" Katherine said, fingering the material. "It's better than my X-Suit."

"It has to be if we're going to have you go against someone like the Winter Soldier." Fury said, leaning back in his chair. She nodded her head softly. She looked behind her when Sam and Steve came into the room. Sam was wearing his Falcon suit while Steve had apparently gone to the museum and taken his suit from the exhibit.

"Now that's a suit if I've ever seen one." Katherine said with a smile. Steve smiled back, coming over to stand beside her and put his arm around her.

"Is this your new suit?" He asked, looking down at it. He fingered the material as well, taking it in.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go get ready." She said, grabbing all of the pieces of it before making her way into a backroom. She quickly put it on, noticing how much skin the suit actually showed. She looked down, tilting her head at her boobs before shrugging her shoulders. When she came back over to everyone, noticing that Natasha had rejoined everyone.

"Lookin' good." Sam said when he saw her. Steve turned, his eyes widening and his jaw falling open.

"Close your mouth; you'll catch flies that way." She said with a smirk as she came over to them. She watched as he blinked a couple of times before closing his mouth before putting his helmet on to hide the flush on his cheeks. She smiled, leaning over to give him a kiss before they turned back to Fury, waiting for the plan to be explained.

 **XXX**

Katherine accepted the gun from Maria and aimed it at the door. After shooting the dish with a little electricity and making it give a high-pitched whine, a tech opened the door, on his way to check it out. Maria, Sam, and herself all aimed their guns at him as Steve stepped forward. The tech stepped back a few times, looking at the four of them in shock.

"Excuse us." He said. The man lifted his arms, moving aside so that they could come into the room. Steve led the way with Katherine right behind him, Sam and Maria behind them. Katherine made her way over to where the PA system was, holding her gun up to the man, making him move from the chair. She tucked the gun into the top of her boot as she began working to turn the PA system on. She knew the others were watching over her so she just focused on her work. It only took her a minute or so to have the whole building's PA system rigged up. She flipped a switch, watching as a little red light came on. She put her hand over the microphone before turning to look at Steve.

"You're up Captain." She said quietly. Since she had put the suit on and they'd left their hiding place, she had fallen into her Mother Nature persona. She noticed that it was no different than when Steve became Captain America. He came to stand next to her, taking in a deep breath before removing his helmet, he handed it to the woman. When she could tell he was ready, she removed her hand and pulling her gun out once again.

"Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D agents, this is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. S.H.I.E.L.D is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it." Katherine took a step closer to him, her side brushing against his. He glanced at her before looking forward again. "But I'm willing to bet I'm not." Katherine reached over and turned off the PA system. Steve stood up and looked at Katherine, the woman nodded with a small smile before handing him his helmet. Sam walked closer to the pair, smiling.

"Did you write that down first or was it off the top of your head?" Steve smiled, putting a hand on Katherine's lower back.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry this update took so long! Things began getting a little crazy and I'm getting ready to go back to classes. I only have a few so I will have time to update more! Only a few chapters left so… yeah! But the ending is something you all want to stick around for! :) I'm not very good at fight scenes so I hope the scene turned out…**

 **Please don't forget to fave, follow, and review!**

 **XXX**

"They're initiating launch." Maria said from the computer she was sitting at. It must allow her to see the launching.

"Let's go." Steve said before he took off out the door. Katherine and Sam followed him without question. They made it all the way outside before Sam spoke.

"Hey Cap, how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?" He asked.

"If they're shooting at you, they're bad." Steve said and Katherine chuckled.

"I never would have known that. Thanks for telling me." She could hear Steve laugh slightly. Katherine glanced behind her, watching as Sam's wings opened up and he flew into the sky. She looked over at Steve, nodding her head before the two of them jumped down. The woman waved her arms, causing the wind to pick up around them. She used the wind to make a cushion for them before they hit the ground. Steve landed and rolled before coming back onto his feet and running down the runway. Katherine landed softly on the balls of her feet before following the man. Steve lifted his shield, blocking the bullets coming towards them. Katherine used the wind, once again, to make a shield. The plan the two heroes had briefly discussed was that they split up, so Steve ran to the right while Katherine ran to the left. She hid behind some crates to catch her breath as the men continued to fire on where she was. She looked in Steve's direction when she heard an explosion. She was only there for a moment before her communicator crackled to life.

" _Hey guys, I found those bad guys you were talking about."_ Sam said. The woman could hear the explosions in the background.

" _You okay?"_ Steve asked.

" _I'm not dead yet."_ Sam replied. Katherine nodded before turned her head, the bullets had stopped flying at her but she could hear an agent slowly walking towards her. She waited silently until she saw him beginning to round the corner. She stepped closer and swung her leg out in a roundhouse kick, catching the man in the jaw, knocking him unconscious. He grabbed his gun from his hands when he hit the ground.

"That's the kind of attitude to have." She said to Sam as she checked the number of rounds. She peeked around before bringing the gun up and firing off a few rounds. She could hear the agents grunt and fall as she hit them.

" _Falcon, status?"_ Maria's voice said in her ear.

" _Engaging."_ He replied and Katherine could still hear the explosion in the background. _"Alright Cap, I'm in."_ The woman sent out a wall of high pressure wind, knocking back all of the agents around her. She peeked out and when she didn't see anyone standing, she began running to where she was supposed to meet up with Steve.

" _Eight minutes."_ Maria said.

" _Working on it."_ Steve said back.

"You need some help?" Katherine offered.

" _I'm almost there."_ Steve said and she knew that meant that she needed to stay where she was. A few seconds later, Steve appeared. He opened a door and ran up the steps, Katherine followed him.

 **XXX**

Three helicarriers meant that each hero had their own to disable. Steve had Alpha, Falcon had Bravo, and Katherine had Charlie. Katherine helped Steve get into his carrier before Katherine made her way to hers. She was just beginning to make her way through, knocking out agent after agent when Steve came over the comm links.

" _Alpha lock."_ He said.

" _Falcon, Mother Nature, where are you now?"_ Maria asked, waiting for the other two carriers to be linked up.

" _I had to take a detour."_ Falcon said.

"In the carrier now, making my way down." Katherine said into the earpiece, punching an agent in the face, knocking him unconscious. A few minutes later, the communicators came on again and Sam's voice filtered through.

" _I'm in."_ A few moments of silence. _"Bravo lock. All you sweetheart."_ Katherine kicked another agent.

"Awe Sam! You know it gets me all tingly inside when you talk to me like that." The woman said with a chuckle as she grabbed the railing, shocking a few agents into unconsciousness.

" _I do what I can baby girl._ " Sam replied and Katherine smiled as she ran down the steps.

" _Katherine…_ "Steve's voice spoke this time. He was in Captain Mode, which meant he was expecting her to do a job and to do it quickly. The woman couldn't argue, this was an important mission. She knew he wasn't mad about the pretend flirting though.

"I know! I'm moving! They're throwing everything they got at me." She said as she jogged down the hall. It was true. Charlie being the only helicarrier left, they tried to make sure that nothing was going to get in the way of them having at least one working weapon. Katherine glanced around before she continued the way she had been going, there were so many winding turns and hallways but Katherine tried to remember the path that she had been taught.

" _Five minutes."_ Maria said.

"Almost there." Katherine answered.

" _Bad news."_ Steve said _. "Sam's down. The suit is grounded. I'm on the carrier but so is Bucky. Be careful."_

"Got it. I might make it before he finds me." Katherine said, running into the control room. She slowed her run to a stop when she saw the Winter Soldier waiting for her. He was fast. She took in a deep breath. "I don't know you Bucky and I know you don't know me… but people are going to die. And we can't let that happen." The man watched her silently. "Please, just let me by. I don't want to fight you." She glanced at his metal arm before looking back up at his emotionless face. She could feel the electricity dancing between her fingers before she took in another deep, silent breath before firing a bolt at him. Natasha had told her that a powerful jolt of electricity fried the arm last time, maybe it would happen again. The man dodged the bolt, pulling out a gun. She made a shield of air when he fried off two shots. She ran over to him, blocking all of the bullets with the wind until he aimed one lower than her shield (since she's never actually had to worry about that before). It landed in her thigh, her knee almost buckled as the pain seared all the way from her ankle into her hip.

She gasped before kicking the man hard in the chest, knocking him back into the console. The bullet had easily pierced the Kevlar of her new suit. Glancing down at her leg, she took a few steps towards the console when Bucky stood up. She kicked the gun out of his hand and roundhouse kicked him in the side, knocking him away from the console. She watched him as he rolled to his feet and pulled a knife out of the back of his belt. She sighed, taking a step back. At the moment, the woman was glad that she'd taken up training with Steve and Logan as well as Natasha when she was given the chance, even though, she was never a fan of hand-to-hand combat. She let out a large gust of wind, knocking him back. She bolted forward, ignoring the searing pain in her leg, to the console. She typed in the code quickly to open the glass surrounding the chips. She turned when she heard Bucky's heavy footsteps coming towards her. Before she had a chance to block, he punched her in the jaw, knocking her onto her back. Before she could move, he placed a heavy boot on her throat.

"Bucky!" She heard Steve call the other man's name. Katherine wrapped her hands around his ankle, trying to pull the boot from her neck. The man turned and looked towards Steve, glancing down her briefly before turning his attention back to the man in the red, white, and blue suit. He turned his whole body, stepping away from Katherine. The woman rolled over and away from him, coughing when she was finally able to get air into her lungs. In a matter of seconds, Bucky and Steve were fighting hard. Every punch Bucky landed on the shield with his metal arm resulted in Katherine hearing the Vibranium vibrating. She could hear the sounds of their fits meeting each other's bodies as well as the shield whizzing through the air every time Steve tried to hit him with it. She managed to get to her feet and pull out one of S.H.I.E.L.D's chips, reaching for the one in her belt when she heard Bucky shout, knocking Steve off the platform. She glanced over her shoulder, honestly not expecting Bucky to be standing there. As she turned, she powered up an electric charge but before she could shock him, he wrapped his metal hand around her throat, picking her up like she weighed nothing and throwing her over the edge of the platform as well. She hit a metal support beam hard and all the air left her lungs.

She closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath when she realized that Bucky wasn't coming for her. He was more interested in taking on Steve, which suited the woman just fine. She reached into her belt, looking for the chip when she realized that it was gone. Her eyes flew open as she looked around her. It must've fallen out when she had fallen. She rolled over, groaning at the strain it put on her clearly broken and bruised ribs. She looked around for the chip and as she did, she could hear Steve and Bucky fighting. The sounds of grunting, shouting, the shield vibrating, and the sounds of Bucky's metal arm filled the supposed to be quiet room.

" _One minute."_ Maria said. Before Katherine could say anything, she saw the chip tucked away a corner of the support beam and some glass. She ran over to it, grabbing it, before using the wind to make a platform to allow her to rise back to the control panel. She landed and ran towards the panel, only to grunt and stumble when a pain shot through her side. Glancing down, she saw a bullet wound on the part of her stomach that was unprotected by the Kevlar.

"I have got to learn to wear suits with full body protection, no matter how hot I look." She said to herself, pressing her hand to the wound.

"Katherine!" Steve said as he ran over to her. She shooed him away.

"I'm fine! Where's Bucky?" She asked as the two of them made their way to the control panel.

"He's unconscious down there." Steve said, motioning his head to the glass below them. She nodded her head. Another shot rang out and Katherine fell to the ground, Steve right behind her. She'd been shot in the back while Steve had been shot in the back of the thigh.

"Unconscious, huh?" She asked Steve with a glare. The soldier looked down before standing and jumping back down to confront the other man again.

" _30 seconds!"_ Maria almost yelled.

"Stand by." She said, pulling the chip out of her glove. "Charlie…" She began to say when another gunshot rang out. When she didn't feel any pain, she ran over to the edge. Steve was lying on the ground in front of Bucky, the man watching him closely, the gun clenched tightly in his metal hand. The woman wanted to go down there, she wanted to make sure that he was okay but 30 seconds had already passed and she had a job to do. She turned quickly, running back over to the panel and putting the chip into place. With a sigh, she said, "Charlie lock." The woman sank to her knees, leaning against the panel for support. She was feeling lightheaded from the blood-loss and probably just the shock of the whole situation.

" _Alright Nature, you and Cap get out of there."_ Maria said.

" _Fire now._ "Katherine heard Steve said through the comm link.

" _But Steve…"_

" _Do it!"_

"You heard him. Go ahead." Katherine said to the other woman. Katherine reached over and grabbed the railing as the ship began to shake from the force of the explosions. Below her, she could hear Bucky screaming. She looked over the edge and saw him trapped by a piece of large debris. Steve was trying to get it off of him but he wasn't able to lift it on his own. "This is ridicules." She said to herself as she jumped down, wincing when the wounds on her side, back, and thigh pulled. While she did have the same healing factor as her brothers, it had always taken her just a while longer to heal. She ran over to Steve, she quickly checked him over, seeing the bullet wounds in his stomach and on his thigh. She didn't say anything though as she grabbed the beam and began pulling. With the little extra help from her, Bucky was able to slip free. Steve and Katherine dropped the beam before turning to look at the man.

"You know me." Steve said to him.

"No, I don't!" Bucky shouted before punching Steve, knocking the man into Katherine, causing them both to fall. Steve stood up again, glancing back at Katherine before turning his attention back to Bucky. They were all panting from exertion and exhaustion.

"Bucky. You've known me your whole life." Steve said before Bucky back-handed him with his metal arm. Steve tripped over Katherine, falling back.

"Steve, we don't have time for this." Katherine said, ready to shock Bucky and get the hell out of dodge. She stood up, slowly taking a step to the side.

"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes." Steve said as he stood up again, he completely ignored Katherine.

"Shut up!" Bucky screamed, punching him again. Steve stood, pulling his helmet off.

"I'm not going to fight you." Steve said before dropping his shield. It just so happened to fall into a whole in the glass, falling through to the water below. "You're my friend." Bucky roared as he tackled Steve down. Katherine stood up, watching as Bucky used his metal hand to punch Steve repeatedly in the face. She could see Steve's lips move. She wasn't sure when he'd said but it had stopped the man cold. She walked over to them, cautious about what Bucky would do if she got too close. What she didn't expect was a large piece of debris to fall and hit the support beams underneath them. What she had expected, was to fall down into the water but… she wasn't falling. She opened her eyes slowly and saw that she was hanging from the helicarrier. She noticed Steve falling into the water but she wasn't. Looking up, she saw that Bucky had managed to grab her hand with his human hand, using his metal one to hold onto the carrier.

"We have to go get him." She said up to the other man. He looked down at her, his blue eyes looking into her hazel ones before he nodded, letting go of his grip on the carrier, causing them both to plunge down into the ice cold water below.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! I'm starting classes and I'm trying to do those! I'm also trying to stretch this out until Age of Ultron is released on DVD so you guys don't have to wait long for the next part! ;) But please let me know what you guys think! Don't forget to fave, follow, and review!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Katherine Howlett!**

 **XXX**

Katherine coughed as she crawled onto the shore. Out of all of the elements that she controlled, water was her least favorite. When she and Bucky fell into the water, she began looking for Steve but she hadn't found him. She took a deep breath as she sat on the shore before she stood up, looking down at her wounds and seeing that they were almost completely healed. She looked up again and looked down both sides of the shore, about 15 feet down the shoreline, Bucky was walking up, dragging Steve behind him by one of the straps of the suit. The woman broke into a run as Bucky dropped Steve onto his back. She placed a gentle hand on his metal arm, moving past he man that had tried to kill them both a mere few minutes ago, as she knelt down beside the captain. He subconsciously spit water out of his mouth before he took in a deep breath.

She put her hand on his wounded stomach before placing the other one on his cheek, whispering quiet phrases of love to him. Bucky watched them silently, standing almost protectively over the two. Steve gasped lightly, subconsciously turning his head towards Katherine. She smiled softly, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. She turned her head, noticing that Bucky was still watching them as he begun to walk backwards. He looked around at the water and the remainder of the helicarrier before he turned his back to them, walking away, putting a hand to his stomach as if he was wounded as well.

"Bucky…" She gently called to the man. To her surprise, he stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. She licked her lips, blinking back the tears in her eyes as she moved her right hand from Steve's cheek to lay it over his heart. "Thank you." The man was silent as he turned forward and kept walking. She watched him silently. There was no reason to go after him, not after what he'd just done. She turned back to Steve, brushing some of the wet hair out of his face. She knew that the communicators were fried, so they would just have to wait patiently for someone to come and find them.

 **XXX**

The hospital room was quiet. Sam was reading while Steve and Katherine slept. Soft R&B music played through the room, loud enough to hear but soft enough not to wake the two sleeping occupants. Sam glanced up at the woman across from him. She had refused medical attention until Steve had been taken care of but now, her wounds (which he had noticed at almost healed by the time they'd gotten to her) were wrapped. She had changed into a dry pair of jeans, brown ankle boots with a V-neck, form fitting black t-shirt. Her hair had been pulled back into a pony tail. Sam had never really noticed how beautiful she really was. No wonder Steve was so hung on her.

"I can feel you staring." She said softly, opening her eyes and blinking a few times before looking at him.

"Sorry, just trying to figure you out." He said just as softly.

"What is there to figure out?" She asked, trying to readjust herself in the uncomfortable chairs. Sam honestly didn't know how she'd gotten any sleep at all in the awkward positions he'd seen her in. leaning against one armrest while her legs were propped up over the opposite one seemed like the most normal position he'd seen her in.

"Well, your powers." He said, shrugging softly.

"I control the elements as well as nature. I have heightened senses and enhanced healing." She said as if it were the simplest thing in the world, shifting again.

"That would explain why you didn't need much medical attention." Sam said, getting a peak at the bandages around her torso when her shirt rode up a little at the adjusting.

"Yeah." She said, glancing at the phone in the small speakers. She leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. "Good song." She said and Sam could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

"Yeah it is." He said before turning back to reading. He would talk to her more and get to know her better when she wasn't ready to fall asleep in mid-sentence. His own eyes began to close and he was almost asleep when a low voice caused him to open his eyes again.

"One you left." He turned and saw Steve was awake. He gave the man a small smile as he looked up at Katherine. She turned to him before looking at Steve, a small smile on her lips. She crawled out of her chair and right into the bed with the man. He'd lifted his arm, trying to keep all the wires and things attached as she settled down gently beside him. Sam watched as the woman carefully maneuvered herself so that she could kiss Steve the lips without the man moving. A gentle, loving smile broke out on both of their faces as they pulled away. He felt as though he was interrupting a very private moment. He watched for a moment longer when the woman laid down next to Steve, closing her eyes, laying her head on his chest over his heart and her hand on his stomach, right where his gunshot wounds were. Steve placed a small kiss to the top of her head before he leaned his head back and closing his eyes once again.

 **XXX**

With Steve's somewhat accelerated healing, they were out of the hospital in no time and no one was there to arrest them. It had made for a pretty nice walk outside, to not have to worry about hiding their faces anymore.

"Where are we headed Cap?" Sam asked as he walked on the left side of Steve. Katherine was on his right, their hands together, fingers laced.

"There's something I need to do." He said. That was how they ended up at the cemetery, standing in front of Nick Fury's grave. They stood silently, looking down at it before man walked over to them.

"So, you've experienced this sort of thing before." Fury came to a stop beside the headstone.

"You get used to it." Steve said as they watched Fury.

"We've been data mining HYDRA's files. Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship." Fury said, looking over at them. He looked different with a beanie on his head, covered by the hood of a hoodie and sunglasses covering his eyes. "I'm headed to Europe tonight. Wanted to ask if you'd come."

"There's something I got to do first." Steve said and Katherine looked up at him.

"How about you, Wilson? Could use a man with your abilities." Fury said, looking at the other man.

"I'm more of a soldier than a spy."

"Howlett?" Fury turned his attention to the woman at Steve's side.

"I have too much here. This was my last job anyway." She looked at the man before turning to look at the headstone, it was surreal.

"Alright then." He shook Sam's hand, then Steve's, and then Katherine's. "Anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me, right here." Fury motioned to the grave before letting go of Katherine's hand.

"You should be honored. That's about as close as he gets to saying thank you." Natasha said as she walked over. Fury took that as he moment to make his exit. The three heroes made their way over to the redhead before Katherine stopped and grabbed Sam's arm, they were a few feet away but Steve continued walking towards the redhead.

"Not going with him?" Steve asked.

"No." Natasha said, shaking her head.

"Not staying here."

"Nah. I blew all my covers. I got to go figure out a new one."

"That might take a while."

"I'm counting on it." She paused for a moment. "That thing you asked for, called in a few favors from Kiev. Will you do me a favor? Ask her sooner than later." Katherine's brow furrowed; what the hell she was talking about…

"I was thinking about it." Steve said as he looked up at her.

"Do it soon. You never know what kind of danger we'll be in next."

"I know." He said a small smile on his face. There was a moment of stillness before Natasha leaned over and pressed a kiss to Steve's cheek. Katherine raised an eyebrow before Sam threw an arm over her shoulder.

"Down girl." He whispered, causing the woman to chuckle.

"Be careful, you two." The redhead said as she turned, walking back the way she came. Sam let go of Katherine's shoulder as the two heroes walked over to Steve. In his hand was the file that Natasha gave him and inside was a picture of Bucky in cryo-freeze and back in the fourties.

"You're going after him." Sam said, it wasn't a question.

"Neither of you have to come with me." Steve said solemnly.

"I know." Sam said and Katherine stepped up beside the man, leaning into his side as she turned the file to her so that she could begin reading it.

"So, when do we start?" She asked, not taking her eyes off of the file. Steve looked over at her, a look of pride crossing his face before he leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry that it took so long to get this up! I've been busy but there are a few more chapters to go. Age of Ultron will be out soon on DVD and then the sequel to Freedom Fighter will be up as well! Please don't forget to fave, follow, and review!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my character, Katherine Howlett!**

 **XXX**

A few days after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. everything calmed down. Steve had decided that he needed to move out of his old apartment building into a new one. This one had two bedrooms for himself and Katherine. Everyone at the Institute knew that Katherine needed to be close to Steve so they helped her move. Steve had told her that he didn't want to push her into moving in with him but she told him that it wasn't his choice, it was hers and she wanted to. They'd gotten a nice place, it was away from the main city and any possible agents but it was still close enough to the city to make travel easy. Katherine had taken to it easily.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked one afternoon when he noticed Katherine ready to go somewhere. She was wearing a black tank top with a pair of blue jeans. Black ankle boots adorned her feet and a deep blue hoodie was over her tank top.

"I'm headed to the museum. I want to learn a little more about Bucky." She said, adjusting the hoodie.

"You can do that here." Steve said, motioning to the boxes upon boxes of Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes files around the room. There were files spread across the counter in front of him. She nodded.

"Yeah but… He pulled you out of the water Steve. He did it because I asked him to. He remembered something and if he's remembering something, he's going to go to the one place that's going to give him the information he needs." She said, leaning against the counter next to where he was sitting. Steve nodded slowly, realizing that she was right.

"Do you want me to go with you?" He asked, turning to look at her and she shook her head.

"Nah. I'm just going to read. I'll let you know when I'm on my way home." She said, catching Steve' smile before he reached out and grabbed Katherine's waist. He pulled her closer to him before leaning up (he was still sitting and she was standing) before pressing a kiss to her lips. He placed both of her hands on the back of his neck, smiling into the kiss.

"I love you." Steve said when they pulled away.

"I love you too." She said as she made her way towards the door. "By the way, the grilled cheese is burning." She said, smiling when Steve realized that his lunch was slowly becoming blacker than usual. She heard him jump up and yelp as he ran over to the stove, trying to save his lunch. She chuckled before stepping out the door, closing it behind her.

 **XXX**

Katherine adjusted her hood as she read silently. Her eyes skimmed over the information available about the man to see if there was anything of value than anything that there would be in the Winter Soldier files. It was pretty much all superficial information that Steve had told her about Bucky before… nothing new. Someone came to stand next to her but she didn't worry about it. She adjusted her hood a little more over her face. She had just gotten done with the bottom of Bucky's biography when the person next to her spoke.

"Mother Nature?" The voice sounded unsure. She turned and her eyes widened in shock when she saw Bucky standing beside her.

"Bucky?" She asked and his brow furrowed at her as he turned back to the biography. "Do you remember anything?" She asked softly. He looked over at her before turning to read again.

"I get glimpses. None of it makes any sense." He said, almost starting to sound angry. She nodded her head.

"I understand. I went through the same thing with my brother… maybe… maybe I can help you." She said to him, watching as he turned towards her, as if waiting for her to give a condition but when none came, he relaxed slightly. "Why don't we go get coffee and see what we know so far?" She asked the man, slowly reaching for him. Her hand connected with the metal arm, hidden underneath a hoodie. He glanced down at her hand before allowing the woman to turn him and lead him to the museum's little coffee shop.

 **XXX**

They sat in silence after getting their coffee. They'd gone to a back corner where no one was around so they could talk without anyone hearing them. She watched the man closely as he looked around at all of the people walking around.

"Are you going to tell him?" The man asked, causing the woman's brow to furrow.

"What?" She asked, not understanding his question.

"Captain America. Are you going to tell him you found me?" He asked again, tuning blue eyes to her. She watched him closely before shaking her head.

"Not if you don't want me to." She said softly.

"Why would that matter?" He asked. The woman could hear the metal fingers moving around in the pocket of his hoodie. It disconcerted her a bit but since he hasn't attacked her yet, she figured that was a good sign. "You're close to him right?"

"I am but you're trying to figure everything out. I don't know if having Steve around will be good or bad for that process." She said. The man remained silent, taking a sip of his coffee.

"How can you help me?" He asked.

"I have a couple different ways. I can keep Steve off your back until you begin to remember more things and are ready to come to us. I also know a telepath that could probably dig into your mind and try to pull the memories back forward." She noticed him tense. "I figured you wouldn't want that. So, I will try my best to keep them off your back until you're ready." He relaxed before looking at her a little surprised.

"Why would you do that?" He asked again.

"You ask a lot of questions…" She said with a playful smile. "You mean as much to Steve as I mean, if not more. You two knew each other all your lives. I would love for you to have those memories back after everything you've been through and for you to have someone that you trust."

"I… trust you." Bucky said, looking up at the woman. He looked a little unsure about his own statement but he did look like he meant it. She blinked a couple of times before giving him a small smile. She slowly reached over the table slowly; making sure the man had some time to pull away if he wasn't comfortable. When he didn't, she placed her hand over his. He looked at their connected hands before looking back up at her face. "Thank you." He said quietly. She nodded with a small smile. She knew how hard it was for Bucky to trust someone but even when he was under HYDRA control, she was nothing but nice to him. If he felt comfortable with her, enough so that he was going to trust her to help piece together his broken past, she wasn't going to betray his trust by telling Steve about him… not yet.

 **XXX**

She returned home a few hours later. When she opened the door, she couldn't help the soft smile that came to her face. Steve was sprawled on the, too-small-for-him-to-lay-out-comfortably, couch with the TV on the Food Network. She walked closer to him, noticing that he was asleep. She grabbed the blanket for the back of the couch, laying it over the man before leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. She slipped off her boots, placing them by the door before making her way into the kitchen. She stopped and placed her hands on her hips when she saw that it was a mess. The kitchen table was covered in Bucky's files and there were at least twice as many dishes dirty as there were when she left. She cleaned up all of the files, putting them where they belonged before making her way over to the sink. Before she turned the water on when she saw a sticky note on the faucet.

 _Sorry about the mess doll. Lunch got a little out of hand._

 _Yours is in the microwave in case you're hungry._

 _Don't worry about the dishes, I'll do them tonight._

 _(As long as you're making dinner, of course.)_

 _Love you, S :)_

She smiled; he even put a smiley face. How cute was he? She walked back into the living room, crawling over Steve and laying down on his chest. He mumbled something in his sleep before wrapping both arms around her and turning so that she was between his chest and the back of the couch. She pressed a kiss to his collarbone before closing her eyes. Sometimes she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have Steve.

 **XXX**

Katherine pulled her jacket tighter around her as she walked beside Steve, hand-in-hand. Their first real date (considering that they've been together for a year already) had been a success and so now, they were just walking through the park in a companion silence. It was chilly out, the season changing from summer to fall.

"I had a really good time tonight." Katherine said, leaning into Steve's side. The man pressed a kiss to the top of her head before releasing her hand and wrapping the now-free arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer.

"I'm glad. I did too." He said before he glanced around. They were in the middle of Central Park, by the lake. The moon was full and shining beautifully off of the water. Steve swallowed before gently pulled Katherine to a stop. She turned to face the man, a confused look on her face.

"What's up Steve?" She asked. He took in a deep breath and Katherine's brow furrowed.

"I love you Katherine. I know we haven't been together that long but we've been through more in a year than most people have been through in ten. We've been through things that most people would never even think could be possible." Steve began.

"Like an alien invasion." Katherine said with a small chuckle. Steve chuckled as well.

"We've conquered so many obstacles together and I want us to be able to conquer more." Steve continued and Katherine's brow furrowed again. "I've been thinking about this for a long time and I realize that, with everything that goes on with us and around us that we need to be able to have and rely on each other. I just want you to know that I love you, no matter what, with all my heart."

"I love you too." Katherine said. Steve smiled before taking a step forward, pressing a kiss to her lips before he dropped down to one knee. Katherine covered her mouth and laughed as the tears began to fill her eyes.

"Katherine Electa Howlett… will you marry me?" Steve asked, looking up at the woman as he pulled the small dark blue velvet box out of his pocket. He opened it and there was a beautiful silver ring inside. Katherine felt the tears running down her face as she laughed slightly. She nodded her head quickly, mumbling multiple yes's behind her hand. Steve smiled at her before grabbing her left hand and placing the ring on her ring finger. He stood up and Katherine immediately through her arms around his neck in a hug before Steve pulled away slightly to press a kiss to her lips.

Everything was coming together and neither of them could be happier.


	16. AN: Sequel

Hey guys! I just wanted to let everyone know that the sequel for _I am a Freedom Fighter_ is now posted!

It's titled _There's No Days Off for Heroes!_ If you liked the first two, please go give that one a chance!

Thank you to everyone for supporting the two first parts of this series and I hope everyone will like the sequel, please don't forget to fave, follow, and review it!


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